THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


HISTORICAL  SKETCHES 


BROOKLINE,   MASS. 


BY 


HARRIET  F.   WOODS. 


BOSTON: 

for  tl)e  &titl)0r,  bg 
ROBERT   S.   DAVIS  AND  COMPANY. 

1874. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1874,  by 

HARRIET  F.  WOODS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


This  work  is  printed  for  Subscribers,  only. 


RIVERSIDE,  CAMBRIDGE: 
PRINTED  BY  H.  O.  HOUOHTON  AND  COMPANY. 


F 

74 


PREFACE. 


THE  sketches  of  which  this  volume  is  composed,  do  not 
claim  to  be  an  exhaustive  Town  History,  but  are  prin- 
cipally a  series  of  articles  written  under  the  title  of 
"  Brookline  as  it  was,"  and  published  in  the  "  Brookline 
Transcript,"  during  the  years  1871-2.  They  are  chiefly 
descriptive  of  the  oldest  streets  and  houses,  with  biograph- 
ical sketches  of  some  interesting  persons,  and  local  anec- 
dotes and  events.  These  papers  have  lately  been  care- 
fully revised  and  corrected  by  the  author,  who  has  added 
new  matter,  including  a  chapter  on  Brookline  in  the  late 
war. 

She  has  been  largely  indebted  for  material,  to  the 
writings  of  Rev.  Dr.  Pierce  (whose  biography  is  con- 
tained in  this  work),  to  old  family  records  and  legal  doc- 
uments, and  to  verbal  information  from  old  inhabitants 
of  the  town.  Deacon  Thomas  Griggs,  Benjamin  B. 
Davis,  Esq.,  the  late  Dr.  S.  A.  Shurtleff,  George  Craft, 
Esq.,  A.  W.  Goddard,  Esq.,  the  late  Otis  Withington, 
the  Misses  Heath,  and  many  others,  have  contributed 
valuable  information.  The  various  publications  of  the 
New  England  Historic  Genealogical  Society  have  been 
frequently  consulted,  as  also  the  genealogical  works  of 
Bond,  Savage,  and  others. 


1423505 


IV  PREFACE. 

In  the  winter  of  1873-4,  Miss  Abby  L.  Pierce  (daugh- 
ter of  Rev.  Dr.  Pierce  above-mentioned),  desirous  of 
seeing  these  sketches  preserved  in  a  permanent  form,  vol- 
untarily undertook  the  labor  of  obtaining  subscribers  for 
this  object,  and  to  her  industry  and  perseverance  the 
success  of  the  undertaking  is  chiefly  due.  To  this  lady, 
and  to  Robert  S.  Davis,  Esq.,  who  has  kindly  arranged 
for  the  printing  of  the  work,  the  writer  herewith  tenders 
her  heartfelt  thanks.  Also  to  all  who  have  in  any  way 
contributed  to  the  interest  or  correctness  of  the  work,  or 
to  the  enterprise  of  placing  it  before  the  public,  she 
gratefully  acknowledges  her  indebtedness.  It  is  hoped 
that  it  may  be  read  with  as  much  pleasure  as  it  has 

been  written. 

H.  F.  W. 

CYPRESS  ST.,  BROOKLINE,  April,  1874. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

EARLY  SCENES,  SETTLEMENTS,  AND  EVENTS.  —  SEPARATION  FROM 
BOSTON.  —  OLD  FAMILIES  AND  THEIR  LANDS  ....  9 

CHAPTER  II. 

THE  "  PDNCH  BOWL."  —  FIRST  PUBLIC  COACHES. — J.  DAVEN- 
PORT—  THE  "  WHITE  "  HOUSE.  —  VILLAGE  DOCTORS.  —  WY- 
MAN  AND  DOWNER  HOUSES 18 

CHAPTER  III. 

THE  DEPOT  GROUND.  —  THE  DAVIS  ESTATE. —  SAMBO.  —  DANA 
TAVERN — TOM  COOK.  —  THE  BAPTIST  CHURCH  .  .  .39 

CHAPTER  IV. 

HARRISON  PLACE.  —  ST.  MARY'S  CHURCH.  —  LINDEN  PLACE. — 
THOMAS  A.  DAVIS — ASPINWALL  AVENUE,  OR,  "  PERRY'S  LANE"  59 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  ASPINWALL  FAMILY.  —  THE  COLONEL.  —  THE  DOCTOR.  — 
THE  OLD  SCHOOL-HOUSE  ON  SCHOOL  STREET  .  .  .  .67 

CHAPTER   VI. 

THE  SHARPS.  —  CURIOUS  OLD  PAPERS.  —  THE  SEWALLS.  —  ED- 
WARD DEVOTION.  —  CAPTAIN  WINCHESTER.  —  THE  GRIGGS 
FAMILY.  —  HARVARD  STREET,  CONCLUDED 98 


VI  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  VH. 

WASHINGTON  STREET.  —  HOLDEN'S  HILL.  —  THE  LEEDS  PLACE. — 
THE  PUBLIC  LIBRARY 125 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
THE  EIRE  DEPARTMENT.  —  THE  DANA  PLACE.  —  Miss  ANNA  DANA  135 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  HALL  HOUSE.  —  THE  TOLMAN  HOUSE.  —  THE  CROFT  HOUSES. 
—  "  BLACK  SUSY."  —  Miss  HANNAH  ADAMS.  —  DR.  WILD.  — 
THE  BLAKE  PLACE.  —  THE  ASPINWALL  PLACE  .  .  .  .148 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  ROBINSON,  WITHINGTON,  AND  COREY  PLACES.  —  CYPRESS 
STREET.  —  BOYLSTON  STREET.  —  GIDEON  THAYER.  —  DR.  SHURT- 
LEFF.  —  BRADLEY'S  HILL 175 

CHAPTER  XL 

BOYLSTON  AND  BRIGHTON  STREETS.  —  WALNUT  STREET —  HOUSES 
ALONG  THE  LOWER  PART.  —  THE  WALLEY  OR  BlRD  HOUSES.  — 
THE  CLARK  HOUSE.  —  THE  CEMETERY 199 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  OLD  BRICK  SCHOOL-HOUSE.  —  MASTER  ADAMS.  —  THB  STONE 
SCHOOL-HOUSE.  —  THE  FIRST  CHURCH.  —  REV.  MR.  ALLEN. — 
REV.  MR.  JACKSON 225 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

REV.  DR.  PIERCE  :  BIOGRAPHY.  —  MR.  PHILBRICK  AND  THE  ANTI- 
SLAVERY  MOVEMENT.  —  POLLY  HATCH:  ANECDOTES,  HER  MAR- 
RIAGE AND  DEATH  .  .  251 


CONTENTS.  Vli 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  GARDNER  FAMILY  AND  HOUSES.  —  THE  BOYLSTON,  OR  HYS- 
LOP  PLACE  (COLONEL  LEE'S).  —  THE  ACKEES  PLACE.  —  OLD 
INDIAN  BURIAL  PLACE 284 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  HOUSE  OP  SAMUEL  WHITE,  ESQ.,  AFTERWARDS  THE  HEATH 
PLACE.  —  "AuNi  WHITE."  —  THE  WINCHESTERS  .  .  .313 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

HEATH  STREET,  CONCLUDED.  —  WARREN  STREET.  —  ANECDOTE 
OF  JOSHUA  BOYLSTON,  DEACON  CLARK,  Miss  PRUDY  HEATH, 
COLONEL  PERKINS.  —  GODDARD  AVENUE.  —  THE  GODDARDS  IN 
THE  REVOLUTION.  —  A  PATRIOTIC  FAMILY.  —  COTTAGE  STREET. 
—  THE  LEE  PLACE '  .  .  344 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

CLYDE  STREET.  —  NEWTON  STREET  —  "  PUTTERHAM."  —  THE 
CRAFT  PLACE  (NOW  THE  DENNY  PLACE).  —  THE  OLD  SAW- 
MILL. —  SOUTH  STREET.  —  ANCIENT  HOUSE  ATTACKED  BY  IN- 
DIANS. —  JAMES  GRIGGS.  —  THE  KENDRICKS  ....  373 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

HIGH  STREET  CHURCH.  —  CHURCH  OF  OUR  SAVIOUR.  —  GOSPEL 
CHURCH.  —  LOCAL  INDUSTRIES 396 

CHAPTER  XIX. 
A  BRIEF  SUMMARY  OF  THE  MILITARY  HISTORY  OF  BROOKLINE    .  406 

BROOKLINE  SOLDIERS  WHO  LOST  THEIR  LIVES  DURING  OR  IN 
CONSEQUENCE  OF  THE  REBELLION 422 


TIISTOKICAL   SKETCHES 

OF 

BROOKLINE. 


EARLY    SCENES,     SETTLEMENTS,    AND     EVENTS. SEPARATION 

FROM    BOSTON. OLD    FAMILIES    AND    THEIR    LANDS. 

f  OOKING  westward  from  the  hills  of  Boston  in  Gov- 
"L*  ernor  Winthrop's  time,  Charles  River  Bay  was  spread 
at  high  tide,  an  unbroken  sheet  of  water  from  Cambridge 
shore  to  Roxbury  Neck.  Our  present  Brookline  lay  in 
full  view,  with  its  wood-crowned  heights,  now  Corey's 
and  Aspinwall's  hills,  lifting  themselves  up  against  the 
sunset,  and  its  green  slopes  and  winding  brooks  lying 
between. 

It  was  but  two  miles  across  the  bay,  and  here  the 
thriving  colonists  of  Trimountain,  "  which  was  bare  of 
wood  except  here  and  there  in  clumps,"  came  in  their 
boats  for  house  timber,  as  their  successors  did  for  ship 
timber. 

Here,  too,  .they  found  "  arable  grounds  and  meadows," 
and  soon  availed  themselves  of  them  for  pasturage.  The 
early  Shawmut  settlers  soon  explored  Charles  River,  and 
no  doubt  its  tributary  Muddy  River,  which  was  navigable 
as  far  as  our  present  boundary  line  near  Pond  Avenue. 
Across  the  broad  bay,  the  stealthy  Indians  in  their  birchen 


10  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

canoes,  glided  from  their  coverts  along  the  woody  shores 
of  the  two  rivers,  fishing  perhaps  where  the  Public 
Garden  at  present  spreads  its  attractions ;  or  startling  a 
wood-cutter  with  the  twang  of  an  arrow  aimed  at  a  Avolf, 
which  howled  where  the  steam  whistle  now  shrieks.  In 
the  "  forest  primeval "  which  shaded  the  site  of  our 
beautiful  Longwood,  on  a  knoll  in  the  centre  of  what 
the  early  settlers  called  "  the  great  swamp,"  the  Indians 
had  one  of  their  forts,  or  strongholds,  and  here  probably 
were  encamped  "  the  ten  Sagamores  and  many  Indians," 
which  gave  Governor  Winthrop  his  first  occasion  to  men- 
tion the  hamlet  of  Muddy  River.  The  oft-quoted  record 
reads  thus,  under  date  of  1632  :  — 

"Notice  being  given  of  ten  Sagamores  and  many  Indians 
being  assembled  at  Muddy  River,  the  Governor  sent  Captain 
Underhill  with  twenty  musketeers  to  make  discoveries,  but  at 
Roxbury  they  heard  that  they  were  broken  up/' 

The  old  fort,  which  remained  an  object  of  historic 
interest  in  a  tolerable  state  of  preservation  until  1844-45, 
was  built  of  palisades,  inclosing  about  an  eighth  of  an 
acre  of  ground  in  square  form  and  surrounded  by  a  ditch 
about  three  feet  in  depth,  and  a  parapet  three  feet  in 
height,  with  an  opening  or  gateway  on  each  side,  one  of 
which  was  toward  the  swamp.  The  residence  of  William 
Amory,  Esq.,  is  located  upon  the  site  of  this  fort. 

The  next  notice  of  this  place  in  "Winthrop's  Journal," 
i.s  in  vol.  i.,  p.  290,  as  follows  :  — 

"In  this  year  (1633),  one  James  Everett,  a  sober,  discreet 
man,  and  two  others,  saw  a  great  light  in  the  night  at  Muddy 
River.  When  it  stood  still,  it  flamed  up  and  was  three  yards 
square.  When  it  ran,  it  was  contracted  into  the  figure  of  a 
swine.  It  ran  as  swift  as  an  arrow  towards  Charlestown  and 
so  up  and  down  about  two  or  three  hours.  They  were  come 


GRANTS    OF   LAND   AT    MUDDY    RIVKR.  11 

down  in  their  lighter,  about  a  mile  ;  and  when  it  was  over  they 
found  themselves  carried  quite  back  against  the  tide  to  the 
place  they  came  from.  Divers  other  credible  persons  saw  the 
same  light,  after,  about  the  same  place." 

The  editor  of  the  "  Journal  "  in  a  note,  says  of  this 
phenomenon  :  — 

"This  account  of  an  ignis  fatuus  may  easily  be  believed 
on  testimony  less  respectable  than  that  which  was  adduced, 
Some  operation  of  the  Devil,  or  other  power  beyond  the  cus- 
tomary agents  of  Nature,  was  probably  imagined  by  the  re- 
lators  and  hearers  of  that  a^e ;  and  the  wonder  of  their  beins: 

o       '  o 

carried  a  mile  against  the  tide  became  important  corroboration 
of  the  imagination.  Perhaps  they  were  wafted,  during  the  two 
or  three  hours  astonishment,  for  so  moderate  a  distance  by  the 
wind.  But  if  this  suggestion  be  rejected,  we  might  suppose 
that  the  eddy,  flowing  always  in  our  rivers,  contrary  to  the 
tide  in  the  channel,  rather  than  the  meteor,  carried  their  lighter 
back." 

In  1633,  "  It  was  ordered  that  a  sufficient  cart  bridge 
shall  be  made  in  some  convenient  place  over  Muddy 
River,"  which  was  the  first  bridge  at  the  crossing  of  the 
present  town  boundary  line. 

A  more  substantial  bridge  of  stone  and  gravel  was 
built  by  the  town  of  Roxbury  in  the  following  century. 

In  1635,  it  was  ordered  "  that  the  poorer  sort  of  in- 
habitants, such  as  are  members,  and  likely  so  to  be  " 
(of  the  church  probably)  "  and  have  no  cattle,  have  their 
proportion  of  planting  ground,  laid  out  at  Muddy  River 
....  those  that  fall  between  the  foot  of  the  hill  and 
the  water  to  have  four  acres  upon  a  head,  and  those 
farther  off  to  have  five." 

From  ancient  records  it  seems  that  grants  of  land  were 
often  made  here  in  those  early  times  t:>  induce  settle- 
ment. 


12  HISTORICAL   SKETCHKS   OF   BROOKLINE. 

On  the  30th  December,  1639  :  - 

"  It  was  agreed  that  five  hundred  acres  be  laid  out  at  Muddy 
River  for  perpetual  commonage  to  the  inhabitants  there  and 
the  town  of  Boston,  to  begin  at  Mr.  Hibbons's  lott,  and  so  go 
into  the  countrey  as  the  land  will  afford  before  any  other  allott- 
ments  are  layd  out  hereafter. 

"  A  true  Coppie  as  entered  with  the  records  of  the  Town  of 
Boston.  Examined  per 

JOSEPH  PROUT,  Town  Clerk.'' 

In  1640,  the  boundary  line  between  Muddy  River  and 
Cambridge  was  fixed,  and  has  so  remained ;  but  the 
boundary  between  Brookline  and  Roxbury,  and  between 
Brookline  and  Boston,  has  been  subjected  to  several 
changes. 

In  1-675,  Wood,  in  his  "  New  England's  Prospect,"  al- 
ludes thus  to  this  locality :  — 

"  The  inhabitants  of  Boston,  for  their  enlargement,  have 
taken  to  themselves  farm  houses  in  a  place  called  Muddy  River, 
two  miles  from  their  town,*  where  is  good  ground,  large  timber, 
and  store  of  marsh  land  and  meadow.  In  this  place  they  keep 
their  swine  and  other  cattle  in  the  Summer,  whilst  corn  is 
on  the  ground  at  Boston  ;  and  bring  them  to  town  in  the  win- 
ter." 

In  1686,  the  inhabitants  of  Muddy  River  hamlet  pe- 
titioned for  school  privileges  and  the  right  to  maintain 
them,  and  the  following  order  was  passed  in  compliance 
with  their  request :  — 

"  That  henceforth  the  said  Hamlet  be  free  from  Town  Rates  to 
Boston,  they  henceforth  maintaining  an  able  reading  and  writing 
master." 

This  arrangement  was  gladly  accepted,  and  the  people 

*  Across  the  bay. 


A    PETITION.  13 

of  the  hamlet  agreed  to  pay  the  schoolmaster  £12  per 
annum,  and  tax  the  individuals  who  availed  themselves 
of  the  school  for  the  balance  necessary  for  the  support  of 
the  master,  abating  in  part  or  wholly  the  school  rates 
of  the  poor.  This  is  the  first  entry  upon  the  records  of 
the  town.  Three  men  were  annually  chosen  at  the  Bos- 
ton town  meeting  to  manage  the  affairs  of  the  hamlet, 
which  began  to  be  called  Brookline  about  this  time, 
though  still  a  part  of  Boston.  A  committee  of  three 
men  was  chosen  to  decide  where  the  centre  of  the  town 
was  to  be  found,  that  the  school-house  might  be  located 
there,  and  they  fixed  upon  the  triangular  piece  of  ground 
in  Walnut  Street,  just  west  of  the  present  Unitarian 
church.  The  town  fathers  of  those  days  having  "  tasted 
the  sweets  of  liberty,"  soon  came  to  a  vivid  perception  of 
the  inconvenience  of  having  their  local  affairs  managed 
by  Boston,  and  on  the  llth  of  March,  1700,  they  pre- 
sented a  petition  to  be  set  off  as  a  town  by  themselves, 
as  follows  :  — 

"  To  his  Excellency,  the  Governor,  Council,  and  Assembly. 

'•The  humble  petition  of  the  Inhabitants  of  Muddy  River. 
Humbly  Sheweth,  That  they  are  a  Hamlet  belonging  to  Boston, 
have  been  lately  settled  there  and  sometime  since  in  the  year 
1686  being  grown  to  a  good  number  of  inhabitants  represented 
to  the  Government  then  in  being,  praying  to  be  acquitted  from 
paying  duties  and  taxes  to  the  Town  of  Boston,  being  then 
willing  to  bear  their  own  public  charges  of  Bridges,  Highwaies, 
and  Poor,  and  were  accordingly  then  released  and  ordered  to 
maintain  a  Reading  and  Writing  Schoole  as  the  order  annexed 
will  show,  which  accordingly  we  have  ever  since  done,  and  now 
further  humbly  pray  that  being  grown  to  a  greater  number  of 
good  settled  inhabitants  we  may  be  allowed  a  separate  right  to 
have  Selectmen,  and  all  other  rights  belonging  to  a  Township, 


14  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOK  LINE. 

which  may  further  encourage  us  as  we  are  able  to  settle  a  min- 
ister and  other  benefits  amongst  us,  and  we  shall  ever  pray. 
SAMUEL  SEWALL,  JR.,  BENJAMIN  WHITE, 

THOMAS  STEADMAN,  SEN'R,  JOHN  WINCHESTER,  SEN'R, 

THOMAS  GARDNER,  SEN'R,  SAMUEL  ASPINWALL, 

JOSEPH  WHITE,  JOSIAH  WINCHESTER." 

This  gave  great  offense  to  the  town  authorities,  and 
a  town  meeting  was  called,  the  petition  was  read  and  the 
reasons  therefor  debated,  which  resulted  in  a  negative 
vote,  and  moreover  the  laying  on  again  of  the  town  taxes, 
from  which  they  had  been  for  some  years  excused,  though 
they  did  condescend  to  allow  them  a  schoolmaster  who 
should  be  appointed  by  the  selectmen  and  paid  out  of  the 
town  treasury. 

This,  however,  did  not  quiet  the  inhabitants  of  Brook- 
line.  In  1704  the  subject  was  renewed,  but  no  favorable 
action  was  taken,  and  in  1705  another  petition  was  sent 
in,  signed  by  thirty-two  of  the  inhabitants,  to  the  Assem- 
bly and  Council,  as  follows :  — 

"  To  his  Excellency,  the  Governor,  Council,  and  Assembly,  in 
General  Court  convened.  The  humble  petition  of  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Muddy  River,  sheweth. 

"  That  at  a  session  of  this  honorable  Court,  held  at  Boston 
on  13  August,  1704,  the  said  inhabitants  exhibited  their  humble 
petition  praying,  that  the  said  Muddy  River  might  be  allowed  a 
separate  village  or  peculiar,  and  be  invested  with  such  powers 
and  rights,  as  they  may  be  enabled  by  themselves  to  manage 
the  general  affairs  of  the  said  place.  Which  petition  has  been 
transmitted  to  the  Selectmen  of  the  Town  of  Boston,  that  they 
may  consider  the  same ;  since  which  your  humble  petitioners, 
not  having  been  informed  of  any  objection  made  by  the  Town 
of  Boston,  aforesaid,  we  presume,  that  there  is  no  obstruction 
to  our  humble  request  made  in  our  petition. 

"  Wherefore  we  humbly  beseech  your  Excellency,  that  this 
honorable  Court  will  be  pleased  to  proceed  to  pass  an  Act  for 


SEPARATION    FROM    BOSTON.  15 

the  establishing  of  the  said  place  a  separate  village  or  peculiar, 
with  such  powers  as  aforesaid,  and  your  petitioners  shall  ever 
pray. 

SAMUEL  SEWALL,  JR.,  JOSIAH  WINCHESTER, 

TIIOS.  GARDNER,  JOHN  DEVOTION, 

BENJAMIN  WHITE,  JOSEPH  GARDNER, 

THOMAS  STEDMAN,  THOMAS  STEDMAN,  JR., 

JOHN  WINCHESTER,  JOHN  ACKERS, 

SAMUEL  ASPINWALL,  JOSIAH  STEDMAN, 

ELEAZER  ASPINWALL,  THOMAS   GARDNER,  JR., 

WILLIAM  SHARP,  RALPH  SHEPARD, 

EDWARD  DEVOTION,  ABRAHAM  CHAMBERLAIN, 

JOSIAH  WINCHESTER,  JR.,  PETER  BOYLSTON, 

JOHN  ELLIS,  JOHN  ACKERS,  JR., 

JOHN  WINCHESTER,  JR.,  WILLIAM  ACKERS, 

THOMAS  WOODWARD,  BENJAMIN   WHITE,  Ju., 

-  HOLLAND,  CALEB  GARDNER, 

-  GARDNER.  JOHN  SEAVER, 
JOSEPH  WHITE,  HENRY  WINCHESTER." 

The  "  prayer"  of  the  above  petition  was  granted  on  the 
thirteenth  day  of  November,  1705,  as  appears  by  the  fol- 
lowing record  of  the  town  grants  :  — 

"  Anno  Regni  Anna  Regince  Quarte. 

"  At  a  great  and  general  Court  for  her  Majesty's  Province  of 
the  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  New  England,  begun  and  held  at 
Boston  upon  Wednesday,  13th  May,  1705,  and  continued  by 
several  prorogations  unto  Wednesday,  24th  October,  following 
and  then  met  13th  November,  1705. 

"  In    Council. 

''  The  order  passed  by  the  Representatives,  upon  the  Petition 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Muddy  River,  a  Hamlet  of  Boston,  read 
on  Saturday  last, 

'•  Ordered,  That  the  prayer  of  the  petition  be  granted ;  and 
the  powers  and  privileges  of  a  Township,  be  given  to  the  in- 
habitants of  the  lands  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  Muddy 


16  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

River,  the  Town  to  be  called  BROOKLINE  ;  who  are  hereby  en- 
joined to  build  a  meeting-house,  and  obtain  an  able  Orthodox 
minister,  according  to  the  direction  of  the  Law,  to  be  settled 
amongst  them,  within  the  space  of  three  years  next  coming. 

"  Provided,  that  all  Common  Lands,  belonging  to  the  Town 
of  Boston,  lying  within  the  said  bounds  of  Muddy  River,  not 
disposed  of,  or  allotted  out,  shall  still  remain  to  the  proprietors 
of  said  lands. 

u  Which  order,  being  again  read,  was  concurred,  and  con- 
sented to.  JOSKPH  DUDLEY. 

'•  Taken  from  Mr.  Addingtou's  copy  sent  to  the  Town. 

"  A  True  Copy  Examined  by  me, 

ISAA-C  ADIMNGTON,  Secretary. 

"•  Recorded  by  me, 

"  SAM'L  SEWALL,  JR.,   Town  Clerk" 

Thus,  the  General  Court  and  Governor  Dudley,  having 
taking  the  matter  into  their  own  hands,  established  our 
identity  as  a  town.  For  a  hundred  and  sixty-five  years 
we  believe  no  one  was  found  who  regretted  the  separa- 
tion from  Boston,  or  desired  to  relinquish  the  liberty  of 
an  independent  town. 

The  old  boundary  line  of  the  town,  on  the  side  next  to 
Roxbury,  came  down  Avhat  has  till  recently  been  called 
Village  Lane,  from  the  direction  of  Chestnut  Street  and 
the  Lee  place,  and  the  lot  known  as  the  Oliver  Whyte 
place  was  in  Brookline,  while  the  house  lot  of  J.  A. 
Guild  and  all  the  houses  on  that  side  of  the  street  were 
in  Roxbury.  The  line  crossed  the  street  at  the  present 
entrance  of  Pearl  Street,  and  the  brick  blacksmith's  shop 
and  all  the  rest  of  the  village  below  it  were  in  Roxbury. 
The  line  followed  the  brook,  now  the  sewer,  and  then  all 
the  windings  and  turnings  of  Muddy  River  till  it  met  the 
corners  of  Boston  and  Cambridge  in  the  channel.  When 
Brookline  Avenue  was  built,  a  person  going  from  the 
corner,  by  the  gas  works,  to  the  junction,  would  go  in  and 


THE    CENSUS.  17 

out  of  Roxbury  eight  times.  The  "  crooked  things  have 
been  made  (comparatively)  straight,"  in  this  direction. 

The  town  became  a  part  of  Norfolk  County  in  1793, 
and  according  to  a  survey  in  1844  contained  4,695  acres. 

The  first  census  of  the  town  on  record,  was,  in  1790, 
518  inhabitants  ;  in  1800,  605  ;  1820,  900  ;  1840,  1,265  ; 
1860,  5464  ;  1870,  6,650. 

The  centre  of  the  town  was  also  the  centre  of  popula- 
tion for  many  years,  there  being  in  1796  thirty-eight 
houses  above  the  church  and  school-house,  and  thirty- 
four  below.  In  1844,  by  a  census  taken  by  order  of  the 
selectmen,  there  were  found  eighty-eight  houses  and  one 
hundred  families  above  the  centre  of  the  town,  and  one 
hundred  and  twenty-four  houses  and  on-e  hundred  and 
fifty-six  families  below  ;  in  the  whole,  two  hundred  and 
twelve  dwelling=-houses  and  two  hundred  and  fifty-six 
families.  All  that  part  of  Boston*  Highlands  from  Muddy 
River  for  a  half  mile  or  more  east,  including  Parker's 
Hill  and  Heath  Street,  and  what  was  on  this  side  of 
Muddy  River  till  it  met  the  old  Buookline  boundary,  was 
called  "  Roxbury  Precinct." 

In  this  area  lived  several  families,  whose  lands  lying 
along  the  borders  and  some  of  them  partly  in  both  towns, 
had  many  interests  in  common  and  whose  histories  are 
blended  an-d  identified  with  both.  Among  these  were 
the  names  of  Craft,.  Heath,  Griggs,  Wyman,  Downer, 
and  Brewer. 

The  old  "  Punch  Bowl  "  Tavern  was  the  nucleus  around 
which  "  the  village  "  gathered,  partly  in  Brookline  and 
partly  in  Roxbury,  and  from  this  as  a  starting  point  the 
various  houses  and  families  of  interest,  in  former  days, 
will  be  successively  described. 


18  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINK. 


CHAPTER   II. 

THE  "PUNCH    BOWL." FIRST    PUBLIC  COACHES. J.  DAVEN- 
PORT.    THE    "  WHITE  "    HOUSE. VILLAGE     DOCTORS. 

WTMAN    AND    DOWNKR    HOUSES. 

FROM  the  first  settlement  of  the  town,  until  the  Mill- 
dam  was  built,  the  present  Washington  Street  was 
the  only  road  to  Boston  in  this  direction,  and  the  heavy 
teaming  from  the  country  towns  west  of  us  necessarily 
came  through  Brookline.  There  was  an  immense  amount 
of  travel  of  this  kind,  as  there  were  no  railroads  then  in 
existence,  and  thus  the  ancient  Punch  Bowl  Tavern  was  a 
necessity  of  the  times ;  here  all  the  teams  stopped  for 
"  refreshment  for  man  and  beast,"  and  this  old  building 
as  a  nucleus,  gathered  around  itself  the  village  which 
took  its  name.  Even  to  this  day  this  place  is  remem- 
bered by  old  men  in  New  Hampshire,  Vermont,  and  the 
back  towns  of  this  State  as  "  the  Punch  Bowl  Village." 

The  original  house,  built  by  John  Ellis  long  before 
1740,  was  a  two-story,  hipped-roof  house,  to  which,  as 
increasing  patronage  made  it  necessary,  the  proprietor 
made  additions  from  time  to  time  by  purchasing  old 
houses  in  Boston  and  vicinity  and  removing  them  hither. 
The  result  was  in  the  aggregate  a  curious  medley  of  old 
rooms  of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  connected  together  in  a  non- 
descript manner  and  presenting  an  architectural  style, 
which,  if  we  might  apply  a  geological  term  to  it,  we 
should  call  a  conglomerate. 

The  rafters  of   the   original   house  were   cedar  posts, 


THE    "  PUNCH   BOWL."  19 

just  as  they  came  from  the  woods  with  the  bark  on. 
This  old  tavern  and  its  outbuildings  occupied  all  the 
space  on  the  street  from  the  brick  blacksmith's  shop, 
now  occupied  by  J.  Madore,  to  the  provision  store  of 
Brown  Bros.  It  was  of  a  yellowish  color,  and  had  a 
seat  running  along  the  front  under  an  overhanging 
porch,  or  rather  projection  of  a  part  of  the  second 
story,  where  loungers  congregated  to  discuss  the  news  of 
the  day.  In  front  of  it  and  near  each  end  was  a  large 
elm  tree  ;  under  the  westerly  one  stood  a  pump.  This 
tree  and  pump  remained  until  within  a  few  years,  the 
other  was  long  ago  destroyed.  The  ancient  sign,  sus- 
pended from  a  high,  red  post,  gave  a  name  to  the  tavern 
and  the  village,  and  swung  its  hospitable  invitation  creak- 
ing in  the  wind  for  nearly  a  hundred  years.  The  design 
was  a  huge  bowl  and  ladle  overhung  by  a  lemon  tree, 
resplendent  with  fruit,  some  of  which  lay  around  the 
bowl  as  if  fallen  from  the  tree. 

Here  the  Selectmen  of  the  town  used  to  have  an  annual 
supper,  and  on  one  of  these  occasions  the  old  building 
came  near  being  destroyed  by  fire.  They  had  sat  round 
the  table  smoking,  after  the  repast,  and  probably  dropped 
fire  upon  the  table-cloth,  which  was  gathered  up  and 
thrust  into  a  closet  by  a  servant.  Soon  after  retiring,  the 
family  were  wakened  by  the  smell  of  smoke,  and  flames 
arising  from  the  closet  burst  through  to  the  chamber 
overhead,  where  the  landlord's  children  slept.  The 
frightened  children  rushed  out  in  their  night  clothes  to 
the  neighbors'  houses ;  the  night  was  bitterly  cold,  and 
the  ground  covered  with  ice,  and  but  for  the  landlord's 
promptness  and  presence  of  mind,  the  whole  establish- 
ment would  have  been  speedily  reduced  to  ashes.  With- 
out stopping  to  put  on  a  single  garment,  just  as  he 
sprang  from  his  bed,  he  gave  the  alarm  and  seized  a 


20  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

bucket  of  swill  which  he  dashed  upon  the  burning  mass 
in  the  closet,  closed  the  doors  carefully  after  him,  and 
brought  water  from  the  pump,  directed  the  labor  of  oth- 
ers who  came  with  their  buckets,  and  put  the  fire  out 
and  saved  the  building,  though  the  flames  actually 
reached  the  attic.  There  was  at  that  time  an  engine  in 
the  village  kept  in  a  house  which  stood  in  what  is  now 
the  front  yard  of  the  Oliver  Whyte  estate.  It  was 
owned  by  Brookline  and  Roxbury  in  common,  as  the 
south  side  of  the  street  from  Village  Lane  to  the  creek  be- 
low Pond  Avenue  was  then  a  part  of  Roxbury.  The 
extent  of  the  patronage  of  the  old  "  Punch  Bowl  "  may  be 
roughly  estimated  from  the  fact  that  it  was  common  for 
a  row  of  teams  to  occupy  the  side  of  the  street  above  and 
below  the  tavern,  from  what  is  now  Harrison  Place,  to 
the  gas  works  in  a  continuous  line,  while  the  men  and 
horses  were  being  fed  and  rested.  The  "  Punch  Bowl  " 
was  not  patronized  by  this  class  alone,  however,  but  was 
a  famous  place  of  resort  for  gay  parties,  not  only  from  the 
surrounding  towns,  but  even  from  Boston,  and  was  much 
frequented  by  British  officers  just  before  the  Revolution. 
The  mill-dam,  the  bridges,  and  the  opening  of  the 
Worcester  railroad,  at  last  took  all  the  business  away 
from  the  old  "  Punch  Bowl."  It  was  bought  by  Mr.  Isaac 
Thayer  about  1833,  and  torn  down.  Much  of  the  ma- 
terial was  of  solid  oak,  and  was  used  in  building  nine 
houses  which  he  erected  on  the  site  of  the  old  buildings. 
These  are  all  standing,  including  the  four  buildings  be- 
tween the  brick  blacksmith's  shop  and  the  brick  house 
next  to  Lyceum  Hall,  the  houses  occupied  by  J.  Darragh 
and  J.  Dustin,  and  the  first  three  houses  on  the  left  in 
White  Place.*  These  last  were  built  on  the  site  of  the 

*  Since  this  was  written  some  of  the?e  buildings  have  given  place  to  new 
ones,  and  some  have  other  occupants. 


FIRST   PUBLIC    COACHES.  21 

present  stores  of  Russell,  Brown,  Doherty,  and  De  Frees, 
and  were  afterwards  moved  to  their  present  situation. 
The  spot  where  Lyceum  Hall  stands  was  vacant  for  sev- 
eral years. 

The  first  line  of  coaches  which  was  established  be- 
tween Brookline  and  Boston,  was  owned  by  a  Mr.  Spurr. 
Perhaps  we  should  have  said  the  first  public  carriage,  as 
there  was  but  one,  a  sort  of  small  stage  which  went  to 
Boston  and  returned  twice  a  day,  and  the  rate  of  fare  was 
fixed  at  twenty-five  cents. 

Mr.  Spurr  built  and  occupied  the  house  now  used  as 
the  Massachusetts  Infant  Asylum,  and  his  stage  started 
from  the  "  Punch  Bowl."  This  was  about  1816  or  1817. 
For  want  of  patronage  it  was  discontinued  after  a  year  or 
two. 

Perhaps  if  that  generation  had  been  less  hardy  or  less 
energetic,  Mr.  Spurr's  enterprise  would  have  succeeded 
better,  but  some  of  the  brave  women  of  the  times 
thought  twenty-five  cents  altogether  too  much  to  pay  the 
stage-driver,  and  so  they  walked  to  Boston,  after  their 
house-work  was  done,  over  Roxbury  Hill  and  the  Neck, 
made  their  purchases,  and  walked  home  with  their  parcels 
in  their  hands.  The  mother  of  one  of  our  prominent  cit- 
izens made  a  practice  of  doing  this,  though  in  possession 
of  abundant  means  for  riding,  had  she  chosen  to  do  so. 

The  New  York  mail  stage  passed  through  the  town 
once  or  twice  a  week  ;  the  Uxbridge  stage  three  times  a 
week,  but  these  did  not  accommodate  Brookline  travel. 
After  a  few  years  another  line  of  Brookline  stages  was 
started,  and  with  more  or  less  success  struggled  along  for 
several  years  ;  and  then  a  regular  stage  from  Brighton 
was  established,  which  was  driven  by  Mr.  Simmer  Well- 
man,  a  gentlemanly  and  accommodating  man  who  soon 
won  the  respect  of  all  his  Brookline  patrons. 


22  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

When  Mr.  Wellman  gave  up  driving,  he  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Mr.  B.  W.  Hobart,  so  long  known  as  an 
affable  conductor,  and  now  station  master  at  the  Boston 
and  Albany  Railroad  Station.  There  were  other  regular 
Brookline  stages  after  awhile,  which  accommodated  the 
town  till  the  Brookline  Branch  Railroad  was  opened. 

On  the  left  or  south  side  of  the  street  as  one  enters  the 
village  from  Boston,  lay  the  Ward  farm,  for  many  years 
the  property  of  John,  Samuel,  and  Henry  Ward.  It 
remained  a  part  of  Roxbury  till  this  family  was  nearly 
extinct,  at  least  in  name,  in  this  vicinity,  and  was  sold 
by  the  heirs  to  the  Brookline  Land  Company  in  1860. 
A  part  of  the  land  and  the  old  buildings  remained  in 
possession  of  Sylvester  Kimball,  who  had  married  into 
the  Ward  family  ;  but  within  a  short  time  has  been  sold 
for  house  lots.  It  was  a  befiutiful  tract  of  land,  finely 
watered  and  wooded,  and  during  its  existence  as  a  farm 
cultivated  with  great  care.  It  included  nearly  all  the 
land  from  Pond  Avenue  to  Chestnut  Street,  and  once 
nearly  all  from  Washington  Street  to  Jamaica  Pond, 
being  a  part  of  Governor  Leverett's  allotment. 

Among  the  old  places  of  interest  in  and  about  the  vil- 
lage, was  once  an  old  chocolate  mill.  This  was  accessi- 
ble from  the  street  by  the  lane  through  what  was  lately 
the  estate  of  S.  Kimball,  passing  the  old  Ward  house, 
lately  burned.  It  was  situated  where  the  water  finds  its 
outlet  from  Willow  Pond.  There  was  a  large  pond  there 
then,  receiving  surplus  water  from  Jamaica  Pond  ;  also  a 
dam  and  flume,  parts  of  which  are  still  to  be  seen.  After 
some  time,  the  old  mill  having  ceased  to  be  used  for  its 
original  purpose,  a  forge  was  established  here,  and  the 
water-power  used  to  run  a  trip-hammer.  An  English- 
man named  Montague  kept  the  place,  and  manufactured 
hoes  and  shovels.  About  the  beginning  of  the  last  war 


THE   BARNARD   HOUSE.  23 

with  England,  a  Mr.  Faxon  of  Roxbury  hired  this  prop 
erty,  and  cast  cannon,  which  were  used  during  the  war. 

The  old  flume  is  on  the  right  of  Pond  Avenue,  is  well 
grass  grown,  and  partially  concealed  by  bushes  ;  and  the 
old  dam  has  a  row  of  willow  trees  growing  upon  it.  The 
aqueduct  subsequently  built  to  convey  Jamaica  Pond 
water  to  Boston,  took  all  the  surplus  water,  thus  reducing 
the  pond  on  the  Ward  place,  and  destroying  the  water- 
power.  The  place  has  since  undergone  many  alterations 
under  the  hands  of  the  Brookline  Land  Company.  Mr. 
Faxon,  who  made  the  cannon,  removed  his  business  to 
Roxbury,  where  he  built  the  first  stone  building  on  "  Fax- 
on's Hill,"  so  called,  in  front  of  the  stone  quarries.  It  was 
originally  but  one  story  high,  and  of  its  present  length, 
but  was  subsequently  carried  up  two  or  more  stories. 

On  the  street  in  the  village,  on  the  site  of  the  house 
and  yard  of  the  Barnard  place,  stood  until  a  few  years 
ago,  a  long,  old  house,  of  the  style  called  a  "  ten-footer." 
This  house  was  originally  a  part  of  the  barracks  used  by 
the  Americans  at  the  siege  of  Boston,  and  after  the  dis- 
lodgrnent  of  the  British  was  bought  by  Mr.  James  Pierce, 
and  removed  from  its  location  on  Parker's  Hill  to  this 
spot,  where  it  stood  till  torn  down  by  the  late  Mr.  Bar- 
nard. Some  excellent  people,  now  passed  away,  and 
others  still  living  in  our  town,  were  born  beneath  its 
roof. 

Mr.  Pierce  was  a  native  of  Dorchester,  and  a  brother 
of  Rev.  Dr.  Pierce,  and  long  a  member  of  the  choir  of 
the  First  Church.  Whether  living  in  a  house  which 
had  once  served  the  Revolutionary  soldiers  as  a  barrack 
inspired  him  with  patriotic  fervor  or  not,  we  do  not  know, 
but  when  he  was  seventy  years  of  age  he  walked  to  Con- 
cord, Mass.,  and  back,  on  the  occasion  of  the  laying  of 
the  corner-stone  of  the  battle  monument,  to  hear  Web- 


24  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

ster's  oration,  a  distance  of  eighteen  miles  each  way. 
Mr.  Pierce  died  in  1826.  His  widow,  a  much  beloved 
lady  of  the  olden  style,  survived  him  several  years. 

As  all  the  residents  on  that  side  of  the  street  were  citi- 
zens of  Roxbury,  they  were  obliged  to  send  their  children 
to  its  distant  schools,  and  go  there  also  to  "  Town  Meet- 
ing." It  was  very  inconvenient ;  and  in  the  year  1844, 
Mr.  J.  Lyon  and  other  citizens  petitioned  to  be  annexed 
to  Brookline.  The  request  was  granted,  and  the  town 
lines  so  adjusted  as  to  include  the  whole  village.  There 
was  no  post-office  in  Brookline  until  after  1820.  It  is  a 
little  singular  that  the  first  Brookline  post-office  was  kept 
in  Roxbury,  at  the  tailor's  shop  of  Mr.  Phippen,  for  two 
or  three  years.  It  was  the  building  next  west  of  the 
Metropolitan  Railroad  stable  and  car  house. 

After  Mr.  Phippen,  the  late  Oliver  Whyte,  Esq.,  was 
postmaster ;  and  the  office  was  kept  in  the  grocery  store 
of  Whyte  &  Sunmer,  in  the  building  which  was  removed 
two  or  three  years  ago  to  make  room  for  Whyte's  Block  ; 
and  here  it  remained  till  1840.  Mr.  Whyte's  successor 
was  S.  S.  C.  Jones.  Mr.  Whyte  also  held  the  office  of 
Town  Clerk  for  over  thirty  years.  He  is  still  well  re- 
membered by  all  who  knew  him  for  his  venerable  pres- 
ence and  courteous  manners.  And  here,  in  passing,  we 
cannot  forbear  an  allusion  to  his  beloved  and  honored 
widow,  who  has  so  recently  passed  from  among  us.  Long 
will  her  memory  be  green  in  the  hearts  of  all  who  knew 
her  ;  and  the  recollection  of  her  cheerful,  unselfish,  and 
beautiful  old  age,  cheer  and  sustain  others  whose  faces 
are  turned  toward  the  sunset,  and  who  feel  their  steps 
growing  tremulous  as  they  approach  the  silent  river. 

Another  of  the  venerable  houses  of  the  village,  fast  go- 
ing to  ruin,  is  the  old  house  next  east  of  the  brick  black- 
smith's shop.  It  takes  something  like  a  flight  of  imagi- 


OLD   FAMILIES.  25 

nation  to  recall  the  time  when  this  house  and  the  one  next 
it  were  attractive  abodes ;  yet  there  are  many  who  can 
remember  when  it  was  a  pleasant  family  mansion,  with 
fresh  paint  and  green  blinds,  and  a  grassy  yard  in  front 
inclosed  with  a  neat  white  fence. 

This  house  was  probably  built  for  Edward  Devotion, 
who  was  a  prominent  man  in  the  town,  in  the  early  part 
of  the  last  century,  as  he  moved  hither  from  what  is  now 
known  as  u  the  old  Babcock  house,"  and  died  here  in 
1784. 

The  house  was  next  occupied  by  Mr.  Thomas  Brewer, 
who  was  a  blacksmith,  and  built  the  brick  shop  before 
the  Revolution.  In  this  old  house  Mr.  Brewer  lived  for 
many  years,  and  his  children  intermarried  with  other  old 
Brookline  families.  Now,  the  very  name  is  extinct  in 
Brookline,  as  of  many  another  old  family.  One  mem- 
ber, a  nephew,  bearing  the  name  of  Thomas  Aspinwall 
Brewer,  still  lives,  a  resident  these  many  years  in  Macon, 
Ga.  The  old  house,  after  the  Brewers  ceased  to  occupy 
it,  passed  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Lemuel  Foster,  who  for 
many  years  carried  on  blacksmithing  in  the  shop  adjoin- 
ing. He  built  the  modern  house  on  Walnut  Street  op- 
posite Whyte's  Block,  and  resided  there  several  of  the 
last  years  of  his  life. 

Contemporary  with  these  families  was  that  of  the 
Davenports,  the  elder  Mr.  D.  having  married  a  Miss 
Brewer.  The  old  house  at  the  entrance  of  Walnut  Street 
was  built  by  him,  and  his  long  life  was  passed  there. 
Mr.  Davenport  was  a  tailor  by  trade  ;  and  on  the  site  of 
the  block  next  east  of  the  Brookline  House,  so  called,  he 
had  a  store  ;  at  first,  a  sort  of  tailor's  shop,  with  small 
wares  in  the  dry  goods  line  for  sale.  Mr.  Davenport 
had  no  children,  but  adopted  a  nephew,  who  rejoiced  in 


26  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

the  Scripture  name  of  Jerathmiel,  but  which  was  merci- 
fully shortened  into  "  Jerry,"  for  common  usage. 

As  the  old  gentleman  grew  feeble  with  advancing 
years,  the  nephew  took  the  shop,  which  he  stocked  with 
dry  goods  and  groceries,  the  tailor's  business  having  been 
taken  up  by  a  Mr.  Phippen,  in  the  next  building  east. 
The  store  was  an  old  gambrel  roof  building  one  story 
high,  gable  end  to  the  street.  In  this  building  a  singular 
accident  occurred  which  is  said  to  have  caused  the  death 
of  the  elder  Mr.  Davenport.  At  that  time,  a  slaughter- 
house was  kept  on  the  Ward  place ;  and  one  day  an  ox, 
which  had  been  struck  but  not  killed,  broke  loose  from 
the  slaughter-house,  rushed  madly  up  the  street  and 
dashed  into  this  store,  knocking  down  the  old  gentleman 
and  so  injuring  him  that  he  never  recovered  from  the 
effects,  but  died  not  long  after. 

Some  years  afterward,  Mr.  Jerry  Davenport  tore  down 
the  old  store  and  built  a  modern  two-story  one  which  has 
since  been  remodeled  to  its  present  form.  In  front  of 
the  old  store  were  two  very  large  buttonwood  trees,  a 
pump,  and  a  long  watering-trough.  Shade  trees  and 
plenty  of  fresh  water  by  the  way-side  for  man  and  beast, 
were  a  part  of  the  good  old  customs  that  should  never 
have  been  allowed  to  fall  into  disuse. 

Jerry  Davenport,  as  he  was  familiarly  called,  was  as 
much  one  of  the  village  institutions  as  the  old  "  Punch 
Bowl."  His  ruddy  face,  erect  figure,  short  steps,  and 
ready  jokes  are  well  remembered,  and  also  his  twenty- 
seven  years'  courtship,  his  slyly-planned  marriage  so 
quickly  detected,  and  the  Calithumpian  serenade  which 
followed,  making  night  hideous,  from  Heath  Street  to 
Corey's  Hill.  Neither  will  his  sudden  death  be  soon  for- 
gotten ;  nor  the  singular  circumstance  of  hie  body  being 
taken  from  the  tomb  a  day  or  two  after  burial,  and  set 


MR.   LYON  AND   MR.    BROWN.  27 

upright  in  the  coffin  to  be  photographed.     "Alas!  poor 
Yorick." 

The  two  buildings  next  west  of  the  old  grocery  store 
above  mentioned  were,  when  new,  occupied  the  one  by 
Dr.  Downer's  family,  the   doctor  having   died,  and   the 
other  by  Mr.  Hancock's  family.    A  generation  later  there 
was  intermarriage  between   these  families.     About   the 
year  1819,  two  young  men,  Mr.  J.  Lyon  and  Mr.  W.  H. 
Brown,  commenced  business  in  the  village  —  Mr.  Lyon 
being  a  wheelwright,  and  Mr.  Brown  a  harness-maker  — 
in  a  shop  which  was  built  for  them  in  the  westerly  end  of 
the  old  "  Punch  Bowl  "  out-buildings,  by  Mr.  Laughton, 
for  many  years  the  proprietor  of  this  famous  old  tavern. 
When  the  time  came  for  the  destruction  of  these  build- 
ings, these   young   men    removed    their   business  —  Mr. 
Brown  to  a  new  shop,  next  to  Baker's  present  paint-shop, 
and  Mr.  Lyon  to  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  up  the 
yard  to  the  Hancock  house,  as  it  was  then  called,  which 
he    had   hired   and  was    occupying.     Subsequently    this 
house  and   the  one  now  called  the  u  Brookline  House," 
became  Mr.  Lyon's  property.     Here  he  became  widely 
known  and  well  patronized  in  his  business,  and  earned 
the  reputation  of  making  wheels  that  would  "  never  wear 
out"  so  thoroughly  was  his  work  done.     Mr.  Lyon,  after 
many  years  of  faithful  toil  in  Brookline,  sold  out  and  re- 
tired to  Lancaster,  Mass.* 

Mr.  Brown  purchased  the  house  at  the  foot  of  Vil- 
lage Lane  of  a  Mr.  Barry,  a  hatter,  who  was  its  original 
owner  ;  and  here  he  spent  the  remainder  of 'his  days.  Mr. 
Brown  was  for  many  years  identified  with  the  First  Par- 
ish, as  a  musician,  before  an  organ  was  aspired  to,  and 
contributed  his  share  unfailingly  from  Sunday  to  Sunday 
through  summer  and  winter,  in  the  stirring  melody  with 
which  the  old  congregations  worshipped. 

*  He  died  in  February,  1873. 


28  HISTORICAL    SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  old  house  now  called  the  Brookline  House  has  had 
a  multitude  of  tenants,  in  various  useful  callings,  in  its 
better  days,  it  being  for  several  years  the  location  of  the 
post-office,  under  the  care  of  Mr.  S.  S.  C.  Jones. 

We  will  now  retrace  our  steps  a  short  distance,  to  the 
corner  of  Brookline  Avenue.  Before  the  Mill-dam  was 
built,  for  nearly  a  hundred  years  there  stood,  in  the  rear 
of  the  present  gas-works  a  dwelling-house,  with  a  large 
yard  in  front  of  it ;  east  of  this,  where  the  roadway  is 
now,  was  a  small  school-house  belonging  to  "  Roxbury 
Precinct."  The  ground  sloped  down,  till  the  grassy  up- 
land joined  the  marsh  on  this  side  of  Muddy  River,  which 
was  then  from  forty  to  fifty  feet  wide.  In  the  rear  of 
the  dwelling-house  above  mentioned  was  a  bit  of  orchard 
or  garden  place  which  sloped  northward  to  the  marsh, 
which  was  overflowed  with  deep  water  at  every  tide. 
This  house,  with  all  the  land  adjoining  on  both  sides  of 
Muddy  River,  was  in  ancient  times  the  property  of  the 
Griggs  family.  As  early  as  1635,  the  name  of  George 
Griggs  appears  in  the  annals  of  Muddy  River.  From 
that  time  downward  the  name  is  constantly  found  in  the 
records  of  the  town. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  Muddy  River,  nearly  opposite 
Heath  Street,  stood  another  ancient  house  which  is  barely 
recollected  by  some  of  the  oldest  inhabitants,  and  this 
was  also  the  property  of  one  of  the  Griggs  families. 
George  Griggs,  the  doctor  previously  mentioned,  inher- 
ited the  ancient  house  on  the  site  of  the  gas-works,  and 
built  early  in  the  last  century,  or  at  least  before  the  Rev- 
olution, the  old  house,  now  for  these  many  years  a  tene- 
ment house,  and  known  sometimes  as  the  "  Tontine,"  but 
of  late  years  as  "  the  long  house."  The  western  half, 
with  the  ornamental  portico  over  the  front  door,  was 
afterward  added  by  Dr.  Downer.  Dr.  Griggs  did  not 


AGREEMENT   TO   BUILD   A   DAM.  29 

remove  the  old  house  which  he  had  inherited,  and  at  his 
death  it  became  the  property  of  his  daughter.  He  lived 
to  a  great  age,  and  died  in  the  latter  part  of  the  last  cen- 
tury. 

A  curious  old  paper,  dated  1721,  contains  the  auto- 
graph of  George  Griggs,  who  if  he  was  the  same  who 
was  afterwards  the  doctor,  must  have  been  quite  a  young 
man  at  that  time.  This  paper  is  a  bond  or  agreement 
between  Joseph  Craft,  George  Griggs,  and  William  Heath 
(afterwards  the  General),  to  "  build  a  dam  ajoyning 
to  Muddy  River  Bridge."  This  must  have  been  where 
Washington  Street  crosses  "  the  creek  "  or  Muddy  River, 
now  the  boundary  line  separating  Brookline  from  Bos- 
ton, as  there  was  no  other  bridge  over  Muddy  River  at 
that  time.  The  road  was  low,  and  the  tide-water  went 
far  up  the  marshes  and  lowlands. 

The  Heath  property  lay  along  both  marshes  and  up- 
lands west  and  south  of  Heath  Street,  abutting  upon 
what  is  now  "  the  Ward  farm,"  or  Brookline  Land  Com- 
pany's property.  Where  the  Craft  lands  lay  we  are  not 
informed,  except  that  it  included  all  that  lay  on  both 
sides  of  the  street,  for  some  distance  above  and  below  the 
old  house  on  Tremont  Street,  which  bears  the  date  of 
1709  on  the  chimney. 

George  Griggs'  part  of  the  agreement  read  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

"  In  order  to  building  a  dam  ajoyning  to  muddi  River  Bridge 
I  Gorge  Griggs  of  Roxbury  do  hereby  offer  and  Ingage  one 
half  rod  wide  next  sd  Rode  which  shall  be  for  Building  a  dam 
on  and  that  I  will  pay  one  pound  to  the  proprietors  Besides  my 
Equail  proportion  to  aid  in  Building  sd  Dam  provided  the 
Northeron  face  of  said  Dam  shall  be  made  with  a  good  stone 
wall  four  feet  high  so  far  as  is  needful  to  make  a  Dam." 

"  February  24,  1721.  GEORGE  GRIGGS." 


30  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  know  whether  this  dam  was 
ever  built,  and  if  so,  when  it  was  removed.  The  mead- 
ows south  of  the  street  were  formerly  flooded,  and  as  be- 
fore stated  there  was  water  power  enough  from  Willow 
Pond  to  run  a  chocolate  mill,  and  afterwards  a  trip  ham- 
mer in  a  blacksmith's  shop  at  the  point  where  the  brook 
flows  from  the  pond.  But  the  dam  now  surmounted  by 
a  row  of  willows,  next  Willow  Pond,  is  not  "  ajoyning 
Muddy  River  Bridge,"  and  we  have  sought  in  vain  for 
information  among  the  old  inhabitants  and  old  documents 
respecting  it.  The  only  reason  for  thinking  of  this  dam 
in  connection  with  Willow  Pond,  is  that  William  Heath 
agrees  in  his  part  of  the  document  that  "  the  stones  shall 
be  taken  out  of  the  west  end  of  my  pasture  Lying  on  the 
south  side  of  the  Great  hill,  taking  all  that  is  movable 
that  I  shall  appoint."  Perhaps  the  dam  was  eventually 
built  thus  far  up  the  meadows,  instead  of  "  ajoyning 
Muddy  River  Bridge." 

Dr.  Geo.  Griggs  left  one  child,  a  daughter,  who  became 
the  wife  of  Capt.  Wm.  Wyman ;  and  the  house  and  land 
now  occupied  by  the  Gas  Company,  including  some  land 
now  covered  by  Brookline  Avenue,  some  marsh  land  and 
many  acres  now  on  the  Boston  side  of  Muddy  River,  all 
originally  belonging  to  this  estate,  were  long  known  as 
the  Wyman  property.  The  descendants  of  this  branch 
of  the  Griggs  family  are  still  in  existence  under  various 
names. 

Mary  Griggs  was  very  beautiful,  and  quite  an  heiress. 
A  large  tract  of  land  belonged  to  her  in  Brookline  and 
Roxbury,  and  much  more  in  Brighton,  Newton,  and  Need- 
ham.  She  married  in  opposition  to  the  wishes  of  her 
parents,  and  lived  an  uncongenial  and  most  unhappy  life. 
It  was  by  marriage  with  her  daughter  that  Dr.  Dow- 
ner became  connected  with  this  family  and  its  possessions. 


HOUSES   OF   CAPTAIN   WYMAN   AND   DR.   DOWNER.         31 

The  original  Griggs  house,  which  the  old  doctor  would 
not  have  removed  when  it  became  untenable,  was  held 
with  equal  tenacity  by  Captain  Wyman,  who  would 
neither  sell,  repair,  nor  destroy  it ;  and  it  stood  until  it 
leaned  over  with  age  and  fell  piece  by  piece  into  the  cellar. 
A  gale  of  wind  (some  say  the  September  gale  of  1816) 
finished  it.  There  are  persons  now  living  who  can  re- 
member playing  among  the  beams  of  it  in  their  child- 
hood. 

When  the  Mill-dam  was  built  and  the  Brookline  branch 
of  it  opened,  in  1821,  it  cut  off  Captain  Wy man's  yard. 
Afterwards  a  blacksmith's  shop  was  built  on  the  east  cor- 
ner of  the  avenue,  which  was  after  a  number  of  years 
moved  across  the  street  into  the  lot  now  bordering  on 
Pond  Avenue.  After  Captain  Wyman's  death  and  the 
sale  of  his  property,  the  old  house  now  owned  by  the  Gas 
Company  was  kept  as  a  tavern  for  several  years,  with  the 
sign  of  the  Punch  Bowl ;  but  it  had  little  except  local 
patronage,  and  that  of  the  lowest  sort,  and  was  finally 
given  up. 

The  houses  of  Captain  Wyman  and  Dr.  Downer  both 
originally  set  back  further  from  the  street  than  at  present, 
as  the  widenings  which  have  taken  place  from  time  to 
time  have  cut  off  the  yards.  Captain  Wyman's  house 
had  cherry  trees  about  it ;  and  on  the  east  side,  before  the 
street  cut  off  his  ground,  there  were  green  grass  and 
flower-beds.  Many  persons  can  remember  when  "  the 
Downer  house  "  or  "long  house  "  had  a  broad  green  yard 
shaded  by  tall  buttomvoods  and  two  Lombardy  poplars, 
while  a  beautiful  elm  was  between  the  two  houses.  The 
whole  village  was  beautifully  shaded  from  one  end  to  the 
other,  until  within  thirty  years,  with  fine  large  elms  and 
buttonwoods. 

Dr.  Downer   was   a   skillful   surgeon,  though  a  hard, 


32  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

rough  man.  A  story  is  related  of  him  which  proves 
that  he  was  a  man  of  mettle.  On  the  day  of  the  battle 
of  Lexington,  in  returning  home  toward  night  he  met 
with  or  overtook  a  straggling  British  soldier  in  the  field. 
They  had  a  hand-to-hand  fight,  which  resulted  in  the 
doctor's  pinning  the  poor  fellow  to  the  ground  with  his 
bayonet,  though  he  plead  for  mercy. 

For  several  years  there  was  a  brewery  kept  in  one  end 
of  this  old  house,  and  an  old  malt-house  stood  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  street.  After  Dr.  Downer's  death, 
a  Dr.  Sylvan  came  to  the  village,  and  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  this  same  house.  He  is  best  remembered  as 
"  the  rain-water  doctor,"  as  he  professed  to  cure  nearly 
all  "  the  ills  that  flesh  is  heir  to  "  by  the  use  of  rain- 
water. Like  more  modern  quacks  who  deal  in  more 
dangerous,  though  quite  as  useless  nostrums,  he  found 
plenty  of  dupes  for  two  or  three  years  ;  but  at  last  public 
opinion  became  so  excited  against  him  that  he  was  forced 
to  take  speedy  leave  of  the  town. 

Lyceum  Hall  was  built  in  1841  by  a  stock  company  of 
Brookline  gentlemen,  and  subsequently  passed  into  the 
hands  of  Samuel  A.  Walker,  its  present  owner.  The 
post-office  was  removed  here  and  kept  for  several  years 
by  different  postmasters,  and  with  the  exception  of  a 
brief  interval  there  has  always  been  a  well-kept  grocery 
store  in  this  building. 

The  hall  was  for  several  years  quite  a  fashionable  re- 
sort ;  and  balls,  concerts,  and  Lyceum  lectures  were  well 
sustained  here  by  the  tlite  of  Brookline. 

Near  the  old  elm  which  stood  in  front  of  this  building 
a  skeleton  was  once  dug  up  in  the  street.  It  was  found 
in  a  sitting  posture  facing  the  east,  and  was  thought  to 
have  been  an  Indian.  This  was  during  the  excavations 
made  by  the  Boston  Water  Company  for  the  laying  of 


ESTATE   OF   THOMAS  WHITE.  33 

the  main  pipe  in  1 848.  The  bones,  which  were  much 
broken  by  the  workmen  who  removed  them,  were  de- 
livered to  Dr.  Edward  A.  Wild. 

The  fact  of  this  solitary  skeleton  being  found  under 
this  great  tree,  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  tree  itself 
was  of  great  age,  and  of  all  the  fine  trees  which  once 
ornamented  the  village  this  was  the  only  one  which  was 
allowed  to  die  a  natural  death,  all  the  rest  having  been 
ruthlessly  destroyed  when  in  full  vigor. 

An  old  landmark,  quite  recently  removed,  was  the 
double  house  between  Boylston  and  Walnut  streets,  on 
the  site  of  Whyte's  block.  Its  original  owner  was  Mr. 
Thomas  White  (the  family  name  was  originally  spelt 
White,  but  was  changed  by  one  branch  of  the  family  to 
Whyte).  The  estate  comprised  not  only  all  the  build- 
ings and  land  bounded  by  three  streets  in  the  village, 
but  also  all  the  meadow,  between  Boylston  Street  and 
the  north  side  of  White  Place,  and  west  from  Washing- 
ton Street  nearly  to  Dr.  ShurtlefTs  line,  and  much  wood- 
land elsewhere. 

The  original  house  was  the  easterly  building,  and  at 
first  fronted  on  Washington  Street ;  a  grocery  store  was 
kept  for  many  years  in  the  lower  story,  and  dwelling 
apartments  on  the  second  floor.  A  long  shed  extended 
from  the  east  side  of  the  store  as  far  out  as  the  great  elm, 
which  was  cut  down  two  years  ago  when  the  block  was 
built.  Here  was  a  pump  in  an  excellent  well  of  water. 

The  other  part  of  the  house  extending  westward  was 
built  by  Mr.  White  for  his  daughter,  who  resided  there 
for  a  while,  but  subsequently  that  branch  of  the  family 
left  town,  and  Mr.  White  occupied  it  himself,  having  let 
the  store  and  apartments  over  it. 

The  store  was  kept  for  many  years  after  Whyte  and 
Sumner,  by  Mr.  George  W.  Stearns,  the  father  of  Messrs. 


34  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

John  G.  and  George  W.  Stearns  of  this  town,  and  who  is 
remembered  as  an  honest,  kind,  and  most  worthy  citizen. 
After  Lyceum  Hall  was  built  and  the  grocery  opened  in 
that  building,  this  old  house  was  remodeled,  the  shed 
and  pump  removed,  and  a  large  and  beautiful  yard, 
adorned  with  shrubbery  and  vines,  occupied  the  place  of 
the  old  out-buildings.  The  village  probably  was  in  its 
best  attire  from  1840  to  1855,  or  thereabouts;  the  old 
houses  were  all  in  good  condition,  and  the  yards  tastefully 
kept,  while  the  more  modern  houses  were  then  so  new 
as  to  look  fresh  and  agreeable.  In  the  front  or  easterly 
part  of  this  house  lived  for  several  years  Dr.  Joseph 
Hobbins,  a  most  skillful  English  physician,  who  won  the 
warm  regard  of  his  numerous  patients.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Dr.  Wm.  Dexter,  who  afterwards  removed  to 
Jamaica  Plain. 

Another  physician,  a  Dr.  Barrus,  lived  for  several  years 
in  the  old  house  called  "  the  Brookline  House  ;  "  and  in 
more  recent  times  Dr.  E.  A.  Wild,  now  more  widely 
known  as  "  the  General,"  was  for  a  while  a  boarder  in 
the  house  of  Mr.  Lyon. 

Our  present  excellent  Dr.  Francis  was  located  at  the 
entrance  to  Walnut  Street  during  the  first  three  years 
of  his  practice  in  Brookline  ;  so  that  until  within  a  com- 
paratively few  years  there  has  been  most  of  the  time 
some  physician  in  the  town  below  the  railroad  bridge. 

To  return  to  the  White  estate.  After  the  death  of  the 
venerable  widow,  who  lived  to  an  advanced  age  in  the 
westerly  part  of  the  house,  the  property  was  let  to  any 
tenants  who  would  occupy  it  without  repairs,  year  after 
year,  till  .some  minor  heirs  should  come  of  age  ;  and  thus 
deteriorating  from  year  to  year  it  became  an  unsightly 
nuisance,  till  it  was  separated  into  two  sections  and  car- 
ried off,  one  part  up  Boylston  Street  and  the  other  down 
to  "  the  marsh." 


PUBLIC   PLAY-GROUNDS.  35 

It  would  have  been  a  blessing  to  present  and  future 
generations  if  some  wealthy  and  philanthropic  person 
had  bought  the  whole  area  occupied  by  these  buildings 
and  the  stable  and  blacksmith  shop,  and  bequeathed  it 
to  the  town  to  be  forever  kept  open  as  a  public  common. 
A  breathing  space  for  the  neighborhood  and  a  perpetual 
play -ground  for  the  children,  in  any  growing  suburb  like 
this  town,  thus  secured,  would  be  a  nobler  donation  for 
all  coming  time  than  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  to  Har- 
vard College.  Is  this  thing  never  done  by  individuals 
because  towns  might  do  it  but  will  not  ?  Whoever  pro- 
vides a  public  play-ground  for  the  boys  is  a  benefactor 
to  liis  race.  Had  ten  such  little  parks  in  the  course  of 
a  century  past  been  secured  to  the  densely  populated 
portions  of  New  York,  or  three  or  four  to  the  north  part 
of  Boston,  with  grass,  shade  trees,  and  drinking  fountains 
of  pure  water,  who  can  doubt  that  the  health,  taste,  and 
morals  of  the  city  would  have  been  better  promoted  than 
by  all  the  labors  of  the  Tract  Society  ?  * 

Before  the  railroad  was  built,  or  White  Place  projected, 
there  stood  on  the  site  of  Guild's  block  two  small  an- 
cient houses,  fronting  on  Boylston  Street.  One  of  these 
must  have  been  one  of  the  oklest  houses  in  town.  The 
sills  were  great  oaken  timbers  from  which  there  was  a 
step  down  into  the  rooms  on  crossing  the  threshold,  with- 
out entry  or  porch. 

It  was  owned  and  occupied  by  Major  Edward  White, 
the  father  of  Thomas  White,  and  ancestor  of  many 
Brookline  people  of  the  same  name,  though  spelled  differ- 
ently by  some  descendants.  He  was  major  of  militia  in 
King  George's  service,  and  was  an  honored  citizen  of  this 
town  in  those  old  days  when  Massachusetts  was  a  colony. 

*  Since  the  above  was  written  this  town  has  secured  two  pieces  of  ground 
for  public  play -grounds. 


36  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

Major  White  owned  three  other  houses  near  the  one  he 
occupied,  all  of  which  long  since  ceased  to  exist.  One 
stood  on  the  ground  where  Mr.  Royal  Woodward's  house 
now  stands,  one  where  the  shop  of  Beals  &  Jones  stands, 
and  one  about  where  De  Frees'  dry  goods  store  is  located. 
The  Major  finally  built  and  occupied,  until  his  death  in 
1769,  the  house  on  Washington  Street  lately  occupied  by 
the  family  of  our  late  respected  townsman,  James  Bart- 
lett.  We  return  to  the  one  first  spoken  of,  on  the  site  of 
Guild's  block. 

This  old  house  was  occupied  in  Revolutionary  times  by 
a  branch  of  the  Aspinwall  family.  The  other  house  was 
wholly  remodeled  about  fifty  years  ago  ;  and  Mr.  Elisha 
Stone,  so  long  the  undertaker  and  sexton  of  the  town, 
occupied  it  for  many  years. 

Behind  this  house  were  two  very  large  trees  and  a  well, 
with  a  curb  and  a  "  sweep,"  the  long  pole  reaching  high 
up  into  one  of  the  trees.  Both  these  houses,  quite  re- 
built, are  now  in  White  Place,  the  fourth  and  fifth  on  the 
left  side.  A  little  steep  driveway  went  down  from  Boyl- 
ston  Street  to  Washington  Street  between  these  houses 
and  the  row  of  trees  which  extended  eastward,  of  which 
now  there  is  but  one  left,  —  the  old  buttonwood  at  the 
end  of  the  bridge. 

Under  this  row  of  trees  were  the  hay-scales,  the  plat- 
form on  a  level  with  Boylston  Street,  and  doors  below  on 
the  north  side.  These  mysterious  doors  were  seldom 
open  when  we  were  straying  by  in  our  childhood,  but 
when  they  were,  we  used  to  pause  and  look  at  the  dark 
recess  underneath  from  the  opposite  side  of  the  street 
with  something  of  the  same  feelings  with  which  we 
might  now  approach  the  portals  of  the  Mammoth  Cave. 

The  meadow  which  we  have  before  alluded  to,  which 
is  now  divided  by  the  railroad,  and  includes  White  Place 


THE   BROOK.  37 

and  Kerrigan  Place  and  all  the  houses  on  the  north  side 
of  Boylston  Street  from  Guild's  Block  to  the  last  men- 
tioned place,  was,  until  about  the  time  the  railroad  was 
projected,  a  green  and  open  field.  The  beautiful  brook 
which  is  now  walled  up  alongside  the  railroad,  then 
wound  through  grass  and  wild  flowers  at  "  its  own  sweet 
will,"  and  coining  out  from  the  meadow  through  two 
arched  openings  in  a  low  stone  wall  it  spread  itself  along 
beside  the  street  for  a  space  at  least  twenty  feet  wide 
and  more  than  twice  as  long,  and  then  flowed  under  the 
road  through  a  broad  culvert.  On  the  east  side,  where 
it  •came  out,  exactly  where  Mahoney's  building  stands,  it 
was  covered  by  the  engine-house  which  the  town  built, 
after  the  old  one  at  the  foot  of  Walnut  Street  was  torn 
down.  This  house  was  destroyed  by  an  incendiary  fire 
more  than  twenty  years  ago.  The  brook  as  it  stretched 
along  beside  the  road  over  a  stony  bottom,  was  clear  and 
not  very  deep,  and  its  sparkling  water  invited  the  great 
droves  of  cattle  which  came  from  Brighton  on  market 
days ;  and  few  drivers  were  so  heartless  as  to  hurry  them 
through  without  allowing  them  to  drink  their  fill.  Often 
in  our  childhood  we  paused  to  note  the  eagerness  with 
which  they  would  plunge  in  at  the  upper  end  of  this 
grand  watering-place  and  their  reluctance  to  leave  it  at 
the  other.  The  railroad  bridge  and  the  street  covers  all 
the  space  the  brook  thus  occupied,  and  the  driveway  to 
the  depot  is  where  the  old  roadway  used  to  be. 

The  meadow  before  alluded  to  included  a  piece  of 
grassy  upland  on  the  north  side  where  now  is  White 
Place  ;  and  here  was  one  ancient  little  cottage,  a  quaint 
affair,  half  chimney  and  fire-place ;  it  sat  far  back  from 
the  street  and  was  approached  by  a  grassy  path  through 
a  turn-stile.  This  was  one  of  Major  Edward  White's 
houses,  and  like  the  one  he  occupied  had  a  well  with  a 


38  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLIKE. 

sweep  under  an  elm  tree.  It  was  whitewashed  and  half 
covered  with  woodbine.  When  White  Place  was  planned 
this  picturesque  old  cottage  was  removed  and  remodeled, 
its  enormous  fire-place  and  chimney  furnishing  bricks 
enough  to  build  a  basement  story  ;  and  it  now  stands,  a 
commonplace  affair,  in  the  rear  of  Mahoney's  building 
in  front  of  the  depot. 

The  brook  in  those  days  having  plenty  of  room,  often 
turned  the  meadow  into  a  temporary  lake,  without  in- 
truding into  cellars  and  basements  as  of  late,  and  in  win- 
ter it  made  a  fine  skating-place  for  the  boys.  Alas,  for 
the  necessity  which  has  turned  this  once  beautiful  stream 
into  a  common  sewer.  "  To  what  base  uses  do  we  come 
at  last !  " 


THE   DEPOT   GROUND.  39 


CHAPTER   III. 

THE  DEPOT  GROUND. THE  DAVIS   ESTATE. SAMBO. DANA 

TAVERN. TOM    COOK. THE    BAPTIST    CHURCH. 

ON  the  spot  where  the  railroad  depot  now  stands,  and 
on  the  vacant  ground  north  of  it,  formerly  stood 
the  large  square  house  now  in  the  rear  of  the  Colonnade 
Building.  This  house  was  built  some  time  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  last  century  by  Mr.  John  Howe,  father  of  the 
late  John  Howe,  Esq.,  of  this  town.  For  many  years 
Mr.  Howe  had  a  tannery  south  of  his  house,  but  he  sub- 
sequently gave  up  this  business  and  went  into  the  lumber 
trade  in  Boston.  The  tannery  was  removed,  and  a  gar- 
den occupied  the  place  of  it,  until  the  place  was  invaded 
by  the  railroad. 

The  house  stood  upon  a  high  bank  shaded  by  large 
elm  trees,  of  which  the  only  vestige  remaining  is  the  for- 
lorn stump  covered  with  woodbine,  in  front  of  the  depot.* 
It  was  a  very  pleasant  situation,  and  through  the  garden 
a  small  branch  of  the  brook  flowed.  Here  were  fine  fruit 
trees,  and  currant  and  gooseberry  bushes. 

The  railroad  tracks,  the  bare  space  south  of  them,  and 
a  part  of  Mahoney's  building,  cover  the  site  of  this  gar- 
den, running  back  to  where  the  turn-table  is  located.  In 
front  of  the  house  the  bank  projected  beyond  the  fence 
into  the  street,  and  as  it  was  high  and  narrow  on  the  top, 
outside  the  fence,  no  child  passing  by  could  resist  the  temp- 
tation to  go  up  one  side  and  down  the  other.  A  clump 

*  Even  this  has  since  been  removed. 


40  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

of  wild  rose  bushes  grew  on  the  top,  outside  the  fence, 
and  lilacs  within.  So  a  narrow  little  path  was  worn  there, 
year  after  year,  by  many  childish  feet  that  have  since  grown 
old  in  treading  our  streets,  or  perchance  wandered  into 
steeper  ways  uncrowned  with  roses.  This  bank  was  re- 
moved to  widen  the  sidewalk  many  years  ago. 

After  Mr.  Howe's  day  the  house  was  let  for  so  many 
years  to  a  Mr.  Marshall,  that  it  became  known  as  "the 
Marshall  house  "  for  a  long  time.  Since  then  it  has  had 
countless  tenants,  among  whom  were  the  late  David  R. 
Griggs,  Mr.  Harrison  Fay,  and  Mr.  Twitchell,  all  of  whom 
occupied  it  while  their  own  houses  were  being  erected. 

The  house  was  moved  to  its  present  location  when  the 
railroad  was  laid  ont.  The  alterations  in  that  vicinity  have 
been  so  great,  that  could  any  former  resident  of  Brookline, 
who  had  not  seen  the  place  since  the  railroad  and  the 
bridge  were  built,  be  brought  unexpectedly  to  a  view  of 
it,  he  would  not  have  the  faintest  idea  of  his  whereabouts. 

On  April  24,  1847,  the  railroad  was  completed  to  this 
village  and  opened  for  travel.  On  that  day,  by  the  gen- 
erous courtesy  of  the  directors  of  the  Boston  and  Worcester 
Railroad,  fourteen  trains  of  cars  were  run  free,  and  more 
than  two  thousand  persons  passed  over  the  road.  No 
accident  occurred  even  of  the  slightest  nature. 

An  account  of  the  opening  was  written  by  S.  A. 
Walker,  then  a  resident  of  Brookline,  for  the  "  Boston 
Journal,"  in  his  usual  glowing  style. 

Mr.  B.  W.  Hobart,  who  was  then  well  known  to  the 
people  of  Brookline,  was  appointed  conductor,  an  appoint- 
ment which  gave  general  satisfaction,  and  which  office 
he  filled  till  appointed  to  a  more  lucrative  situation  on 
the  long  route  from  Boston  to  Springfield.  The  rail- 
road was  not  continued  beyond  the  depot  in  the  village 
for  several  years,  and  therefore  there  being  no  necessity 


THE  OLD  COTTON  HOUSE.  41 

for  a  bridge,  the  old  road  and  the  watering-place  beside 
it  remained  as  we  have  before  described  it,  a  few  years 
longer,  excepting  that  White  Place  was  begun,  by  the  re- 
moval there  of  three  houses  which  formerly  stood  below 
the  depot. 

The  land  north  of  the  depot  on  the  east  side  of  the 
street  as  far  north  as  Aspinwall  Avenue,  had  not  a  single 
house  upon  it  until  within  forty  years,  except  the  ancient 
house  between  Andem  and  Harrison  places,  nearly  oppo- 
site the  Catholic  Church. 

Probably  few  people  among  the  present  generation 
know  anything  of  the  great  age  and  interesting  history 
of  this  house,  as,  though  in  apparently  good  condition,  it 
is  one  of  the  three  oldest  house?  in  town,  dating  back  at 
least  two  hundred  years. 

In  the  early  days,  when  this  town,  then  called  "  Muddy 
River  Hamlet,"  was  apportioned  out  among  certain  resi- 
dents of  Boston,  a  large  tract  was  assigned  to  the  Rev. 
John  Cotton,  the  second  minister  of  Boston.  This  in- 
cluded all  the  land  from  Muddy  River  as  far  west  as 
where  the  estate  of  Mr.  George  B.  Blake  is  now,  and 
perhaps  even  farther ;  bordering  on  what  is  now  Har- 
vard Street,  then  called  the  Newtown  Road  (Cambridge 
being  called  Newtown),  and  on  what  is  now  Walnut 
Street,  called  for  many  years  "  the  Sherburne  Road." 
This  great  tract  of  land  the  Reverend  John  Cotton  prob- 
ably never  used  for  aught  else  than  a  cow  pasture,  as 
there  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  made  this  place  his  resi- 
dence ;  but  he  left  this  whole  property  to  his  heirs,  Row- 
land and  Thomas  Cotton.  Deacon  Thomas  Cotton  built 
the  ancient  house  now  standing,  above  mentioned,  about 
two  hundred  years  ago,  and  subsequently  sold  it  to  Dea- 
con Ebenezer  Davis,  and  took  his  departure  to  the  then 
wilds  of  Connecticut.  Deacon  Davis  was  the  son  of 

4 


42  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

Ebenezer  and  Rachel  Davis,  who  emigrated  from  Wales 
to  this  country  in  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, and  settled  in  Roxbury.  The  parents  died  young, 
and  left  the  farm  to  their  son,  whose  only  sister,  Rachel, 
kept  his  house,  though  but  a  child  of  thirteen.  Subse- 
quently Mr.  Davis  married  a  sister  of  Moses  White  of 
Brookline,  and  Moses  White  himself  married  Rachel. 
With  this  house  was  also  transferred  to  Deacon  Davis  all 
the  land  from  Harvard  Street  to  Walnut  Street,  as  far 
west  as  Cypress  Street  and  School  Street,  though  School 
Street  was  only  a  lane,  and  Cypress  Street  not  even  that. 
Whether  Major  Edward  White,  spoken  of  previously, 
.  purchased  of  the  Cotton  heirs,  or  of  Deacon  Davis,  we 
have  not  been  able  to  ascertain,  but  he  was  contem- 
porary with  the  first  two  generations  of  Davises,  and  his 
land  was  a  corner  of  this  great  estate.  Deacon  Ebenezer 
Davis  had  a  son  of  the  same  name,  and  this  son  still 
another,  so  that  the  name  was  perpetuated  through  three 
generations  in  this  same  house.  The  next  descendant 
who  inherited  the  homestead  was  Robert  S.  Davis,  the 
father  of  the  present  bookseller  of  that  name,  now  a  resi- 
dent in  Cypress  Place. 

During  his  lifetime,  about  seventy  years  ago,  the  house 
was  thoroughly  renovated  and  repaired,  and  the  immense 
chimneys  taken  down,  by  which  ample  space  was  ob- 
tained for  a  pantry  and  bedroom.  It  would  seem  as  if 
it  must  have  been  necessary  for  every  man  to  own  a 
brick-yard  in  those  ancient  times,  when  as  many  bricks 
were  put  into  one  stack  of  chimneys  as  would  build  a 
small  modern  house.  Where  they  found  clay  enough, 
workmen  enough,  and  time  enough  to  accomplish  such 
solid  results,  must  forever  remain  among  the  mysteries. 

Besides  the  chimneys  which  were  rebuilt,  this  old 
house  had  also  another  built  up  from  the  ground,  wholly 


DEACON  EBENEZEE  DAVIS.  43 

outside  of  the  house,  like  a  buttress,  so  that  only  the  great 
fire-place  opened  into  a  room,  in  the  style  still  to  be  seen 
in  Maryland  and  Virginia.  These  chimneys  were  all 
laid  in  clay,  instead  of  lime,  and  became  unsafe  as  it 
crumbled  with  age,  and  when  their  reconstruction  became 
necessary  other  alterations  were  involved,  and  the  but- 
tress-like chimney  was  dispensed  with.  Behind,  and  a 
little  south  of  the  house,  was  a  large,  long  barn  which  in 
comparatively  recent  times  was  divided,  one  half  being 
used  to  build  the  house  with,  which  is  now  the  next  in 
the  rear  of  the  Davis  house  and  occupied  by  Mr.  Tyler, 
the  other  half  was  moved  near  to  the  depot,  and  was 
lately  torn  down.  On  the  southeast,  the  brook  now  the 
sewer,  formed  the  boundary  of  the  orchard,  and  was 
so  excellent  a  fishing  place  for  smelts,  that  as  we  have 
been  informed  by  one  who  well  remembers,  it  was  not 
uncommon  for  half  a  bushel  of  these  little  fishes  to  be 
taken  there  in  a  morning  before  breakfast. 

Deacon  Ebenezer  Davis  was,  according  to  all  accounts, 
an  excellent  farmer,  and  his  estate  was  adorned  with  splen- 
did peach  and  cherry  orchards,  to  say  nothing  of  apple 
trees  in  great  variety.  He  also  ventured  upon  an  experi- 
ment in  horticulture,  for  those  times,  and  raised  the  first 
musk-melons  that  were  ever  offered  for  sale  in  Boston 
market.  It  was  a  success,  and  gave  him  such  a  notoriety 
that  his  portrait  was  painted  with  a  musk-melon  under  his 
arm.  The  picture  was  subsequently  carried  to  England, 
where  it  is  still  preserved  in  a  collection.  Under  it  is 
written,  "  An  American  Farmer."  A  unique  ornament 
would  the  portrait  of  this  ancient  farmer  of  Brookline 
be  for  our  Public  Library,  or  our  Town  Hall.  In  the 
rear  of  the  old  deacon's  house  and  barn  was  a  little  house 
for  negro  quarters  in  the  old  days  when  slavery  existed 
in  Massachusetts ;  and  one  old  negro  named  Sambo,  fig- 


44  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

ured  for  many  years  in  the  experiences  of  this  household. 
The  deacon  resigned  his  office  in  the  First  Church  in  1770, 
and  died  in  1775,  at  the  age  of  seventy-two.  Sambo  con- 
tinued to  live  in  the  family  with  the  son  and  grandson  of 
the  deacon.  There  are  many  amusing  anecdotes  of  his 
sayings  and  doings  still  extant  among  the  descendants  of 
the  family.  He  seems  to  have  been  one  of  those  curious 
combinations  of  wit  and  stupidity  which  are  occasionally 
to  be  met  with. 

His  master  gave  him  a  patch  of  ground  to  plant  and 
cultivate  as  he  pleased  for  his  own  profit.  Sambo  planted 
a  goodly  supply  of  beans,  and  when  they  came  up,  in 
true  bean  style,  Sambo  went  to  work,  and  with  infinite 
labor  re-set  the  whole  of  them  with  the  beans  under 
ground  where  he  thought  they  belonged.  He  was  the 
butt  of  so  many  jokes  for  this  exploit  that  he  was  rather 
sensitive  upon  the  subject  of  beans  afterwards. 

But  Sambo  had  all  the  laugh  on  his  own  side  some- 
times. Some  blacksmiths,  one  first  of  April,  seeing 
Sambo  coining  along  the  road  from  Boston,  walking  be- 
side his  team,  threw  a  hot  horseshoe  into  the  road,  ex- 
pecting to  find  a  victim.  But  the  old  fellow  saw  it  fall 
and  knew  the  joke  was  meant  for  him,  so  he  quietly  took 
his  shovel  from  his  load  and  tossed  the  horseshoe  upon 
the  top,  and  went  on  his  way  chuckling  over  the  fact  that 
they  "  did  n't  fool  'dis  darkey  dat  time." 

At  another  time  this  old  servant  accompanied  the  dea- 
con to  Boston  where  he  called  to  pay  a  lawyer  who  had 
transacted  some  business  for  him.  Mr.  Davis  overpaid  the 
lawyer,  who,  greatly  to  Sambo's  indignation,  refused  to 
return  any  change,  saying  that  he  never  returned  money 
in  such  cases.  There  seemed  to  be  no  help  for  it  and 
the  matter  was  dropped,  but  Sambo  revolved  the  subject 
over  and  over  in  his  thick  head,  and  "  bided  his  time." 


SAMBO.  45 

Some  months  afterwards  he  carried  a  load  of  melons  to 
market,  and  as  he  stood  retailing  them  on  the  street  who 
should  appear  as  a  purchaser  but  this  very  lawyer.  He 
bought  a  water-melon,  worth  ninepence,  and  gave  Sambo 
a  dollar,  which  he  serenely  pocketed.  "  Where 's  my 
change?  "  asked  the  lawyer,  seeing  it  was  not  forthcom- 
ing. 

"  Hi  !  "  said  Sambo,  "  you  gib  massa  no  change,  I  gib 
you  none,"  and  he  brought  home  the  dollar. 

Sambo  lived  in  celibacy,  and  died  when  more  than 
ninety  years  of  age.  It  was  winter  when  he  died,  and  the 
ground  was  covered  with  deep  snow.  His  body  was  car- 
ried to  the  Brookline  Cemetery  upon  a  pung,  and  laid 
near  his  old  master. 

Long  afterwards,  when  the  old  chimneys  were  taken 
down,  a  stout  silver  spoon,  marked  with  a  quaint  old  "  E. 
D."  was  found,  with  the  handle  bent  double,  and  Sambo's 
agency  in  the  matter  was  strongly  hinted  at  by  those  who 
knew  his  faults  as  well  as  his  virtues.  "  Requiescat " 
Sambo. 

The  third  Ebenezer  Davis  who  occupied  the  old  house, 
married  into  the  Aspinwall  family,  and  had  a  son  born 
there  of  the  same  name,  who  many  years  ago  removed  to 
the  State  of  Maine,  where  he  still  lives. 

Another  son,  I.  Sumner  Davis,  was  a  minister,  and 
still  another,  Thomas  Aspinwall  Davis,  was  for  some 
time  Mayor  of  Boston.  Of  him  more  will  be  said  here- 
after. 

The  son  Robert  Sharp  Davis,  was  named  for  two  an- 
cestors of  the  same  name  on  the  maternal  side,  who  had 
distinguished  themselves  in  the  old  French  and  Indian 
wars.  He  married  a  granddaughter  of  one  of  our  old 
Revolutionary  patriots,  Phinehas  Stearns,  of  Watertown, 
who  was  one  of  the  famous  Boston  tea-party.  The  son  of 


46  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

this  marriage,  who  bore  the  name  of  P.  Stearns  Davis,  in 
honor  of  his  plucky  old  ancestor,  was  born  in  the  old 
house,  and  brought  up  in  Brookline  schools.  He  was 
sent  elsewhere  to  finish  his  education,  and  then  returned 
to  his  native  town  till  his  marriage,  after  which  he  re- 
sided in  Cambridge. 

When  the  Rebellion  broke  out,  the  blood  of  the  brave 
old  heroes  burned  in  his  veins  and  he  could  not  rest. 
Day  and  night  the  conviction  of  duty  was  upon  him,  till 
finally  a  reluctant  consent  was  wrung  from  those  who  loved 
him  best,  and  he  left  home  and  a  circle  of  devoted  friends, 
for  the  battle-fields  of  Virginia.  His  honorable  record  as 
Colonel  of  the  Massachusetts  39th  Regiment  prepared 
the  way  for  his  promotion,  and  he  was  soon  distinguished 
as  a  Brigadier-general.  On  the  llth  of  July,  1864,  he  was 
killed  by  a  rebel  shell  in  front  of  Petersburg,  and  his 
distinguished  name  was  added  to  the  list  of  heroes  and 
martyrs  for  liberty.  On  the  day  he  took  his  farewell  of 
his  aged  mother,  she  said  to  him,  "  My  son,  how  can  you 
want  to  go  ?  "  He  replied,  "  Mother,  if  I  should  live  to 
see  the  end  of  this  war  without  going  and  doing  my  whole 
duty  for  my  country,  I  should  never  rest."  And  he  went 
with  her  blessing. 

His  venerable  mother  still  lives  among  us  in  an  hon- 
ored and  beautiful  old  age.*  May  the  memory  of  what 
he  was,  ever  be  the  consolation  of  all  who  are  bereft  of 
his  loving  care. 

Another  descendant  of  Deacon  Ebenezer  Davis,  who 
deserves  honorable  mention,  was  Mr.  Isaac  Davis,  born  in 
the  old  house,  and  a  resident  there  till  his  early  man- 
hood, when  he  took  up  his  abode  in  Roxbury,  on  land 
which  he  inherited  from  his  father,  and  to  which  he  added 
by  purchase. 

*  This  much  beloved  lady  died  May  4,  1874,  at  the  age  of  nearly  89  years. 


MR.  BENJAMIN   DAVIS.  47 

Tliis  worthy  farmer  was  Town  Treasurer  of  Roxbury 
for  thirty  years,  and  Representative  to  the  State  Legisla- 
ture for  seventeen  years.  Miss  Sarah  Davis,  a  missionary 
to  Burmah,  a  sister  of  General  Davis,  also  born  in  the 
old  house,  will  be  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  Bap- 
tist Church. 

A  few  years  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Robert  S.  Davis, 
Senior,  the  family  mansion,  and  what  remained  of  the 
land  near  it  which  had  not  been  disposed  of  to  other  pur- 
chasers, was  sold  by  the  heirs  to  Mr.  Moses  Andem,  who 
resided  here  for  several  years. 

After  Mr.  Andem 's  death,  the  house  was  occupied  by 
Captain  Isaac  Taylor,  till  his  present  handsome  residence 
was  completed.  Until  this  time  the  spacious  yard  in 
front  of  the  old  house  remained  ornamented  with  trees 
and  shrubbery,  and  a  straight  gravel  walk,  bordered  with 
the  stiff est  of  fir  trees,  led  from  the  street  to  the  front 
door.  Soon  after,  the  two  houses  which  now  stand  in 
front  of  it  were  built,  and  the  old  house  was  quite  ex- 
cluded from  a  view  of  the  street. 

From  that  time  to  the  present  it  has  been  occupied  by 
various  families,  two  at  a  time. 

We  will  now  cross  the  street  to  follow  another  branch 
of  the  Davis  family.  A  son  of  Deacon  Ebenezer  Davis, 
born  1765,  by  the  name  of  Benjamin,  inherited  as  his 
portion  of  his  father's  large  domain,  all  the  land  on  the 
west  side  of  Washington  Street,  beginning  at  the  north 
side  of  White  Place,  and  extending  on  that  side  as  far  as 
Cypress  Street.  He  had  built  for  his  own  use  the  house 
long  known  as  "  Mr.  Benjamin  Davis's  old  house,"  and 
married  Elizabeth  Baker  of  Roxbury,  in  1791.  On  the 
opposite  side  he  owned  all  the  land  from  where  Pan- 
ter's  Building  stands  to  School  Street,  extending  across 
from  Harvard  Street  to  Washington  Street.  This  was  a 
high  hill  sloping  down  to  the  three  streets  above  named. 


48  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

As  new  residents  came  to  town  one  lot  after  another 
was  sold  off  it,  which  we  shall  allude  to  hereafter. 

This  Mr.  Davis,  like  his  father,  was  a  farmer.  South 
of  his  house,  where  the  shop  of  the  Kenricks  now  stands, 
was  an  immense  elm  tree,  said  to  be  as  large  as  the  fa- 
mous Aspinwall  elm.  This  tree  was  cut  down,  sorely  to 
the  regret  of  Mrs.  Davis,  because  it  shaded  a  desirable 
garden  spot.  Afterwards  a  row  of  elms  which  sprang 
from  the  seed  of  the  old  tree,  grew  along  beside  the  wall ; 
and  one  which  Mrs.  Davis  set  out  with  her  own  hands 
grew  to  be  the  great  elm  which  was  cut  down,  on  the 
corner  of  Davis  Place,  \vhen  the  block  of  stores  was  to  be 
built.  The  tree  was  not  only  the  chief  ornament  of  the 
neighborhood,  but  a  grateful  shade  in  a  hot  and  dusty 
place,  and  its  destruction  was  a  public  loss. 

On  the  piece  of  ground  above  alluded  to,  was  set  out 
a  peach  orchard,  which  remained  until  within  the  recol- 
lection of  the  present  Mr.  B.  B.  Davis,  his  son,  who  with 
his  own  hands  cut  down  the  old  peach  trees,  some  of 
which  were  a  foot  in  diameter,  and  over  thirty  feet  in 
height.  The  same  gentleman,  to  whom  we  are  indebted 
for  much  valuable  information,  informs  us  that  in  his 
school-days  there  was  such  an  abundance  of  peaches  of 
fine  quality  raised  in  Brookline,  that  the  boys  had  a 
standing  permission  to  go  into  the  orchards  daily  and 
carry  off  all  they  could  eat,  loading  their  caps  and  pock- 
ets, and  that  even  then  the  hogs  were  turned  in  to  de- 
vour the  quantities  of  fruit  which  were  left  on  the 
ground. 

If  by  the  result  of  any  subtle  chemical  analysis  of  the 
soil,  a  happy  experiment  in  horticulture  could  produce 
such  an  abundance  again,  there  could  possibly  be  found 
enough  of  the  "  rising  generation  "  to  take  care  of  them 
all  without  calling  in  the  swine. 


DANA'S  TAVERN.  49 

The  first  Benjamin  Davis  died  suddenly  while  in  the 
prime  of  life,  of  lockjaw,  caused  by  a  cold  taken  by  sit- 
ting upon  the  ground  to  rest  during  over-fatigue  from 
mowing.  His  son,  of  the  same  name,  occupied  the  house 
which  he  inherited  ;  and  thus  three  generations  of  the 
same  name  occupied  this  house,  as  was  the  case  with  the 
one  on  the  east  side  of  the  street. 

In  Revolutionary  times,  a  part  of  a  company  of  Con- 
necticut soldiers,  who  assisted  in  the  siege  of  Boston,  were 
quartered  in  this  house,  much  to  the  discomfort  of  the 
excellent  housekeeper,  who  used  to  tell  in  after  years  of 
their  cutting  up  their  rations  of  pork  on  her  front  stairs. 
The  soldiers  were  subsequently  removed  to  the  barracks 
on  Parker's  Hill. 

A  few  years  since  Mr.  Davis  removed  to  his  present 
residence,  and  the  old  homestead  was  sold. 

Mr.  Davis  is  too  well  known  to  need  mention  in  this 
place  ;  yet  we  trust  one  may  allude,  without  apology,  to 
his  services  as  a  selectman  of  the  town  ;  and  he  will  ever 
be  identified  in  the  annals  of  the  Handel  and  Haydn 
Society  as  one  of  its  most  enthusiastic  members  during 
the  greater  part  of  his  long  and  useful  life.  During  fifty 
years,  Mr.  Davis  was  at  his  stand  in  Faneuil  Hall  Mar- 
ket three  hundred  times  a  year. 

In  this  neighborhood  there  stood  another  ancient  house, 
when  as  yet  the  houses  of  the  two  Davises,  on  either  side, 
were  the  only  other  dwellings  fronting  on  the  Square. 

This  building  stood  upon  the  site  of  a  part  of  Panter's 
building,  Hunting's  grocery  store,*  and  Mrs.  West's  house. 
It  was  known  as  "  Dana's  Tavern,"  and  was  kept  for 
many  years  by  Mr.  Jonathan  Dana.  It  was  a  large  gam- 
brel-roofed  house,  with  a  row  of  sheds  and  out-buildings 
behind  it  reaching  nearly  across  from  Washington  Street 
to  Harvard  Street. 

*  Now  Howe's  furniture  store. 


50  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

This  tavern  was  a  great  resort  for  country  produce 
dealers,  but  never  had  as  large  a  local  patronage,  or  en- 
tertained as  much  fashionable  company  as  the  Punch 
Bowl,  —  as  the  latter  had  a  large  dancing-hall,  which  the 
Dana  Tavern  had  not. 

The  easterly  end  of  this  building  had  a  shop  attached 
to  it,  in  which  Mr.  Peter  Parker,  the  original  owner  of 
the  building,  had  a  shop  in  which  he  worked  at  shoe- 
making.  His  son,  John  Parker,  born  in  that  house,  be- 
came a  very  wealthy  man,  and  his  name  is  still  perpetuated 
by  "  Parker's  Hill,"  on  which  he  lived,  and  "  Parker 
Street,"  which  passed  his  house.  He  held  important  and 
very  successful  contracts  under  the  United  States  govern- 
ment during  the  second  war  with  England. 

There  is  an  amusing  incident  connected  with  the  old 
tavern  which  may  not  come  amiss  in  this  part  of  our 
record.  There  was  a  notorious  thief,  well  known  in 
Brookline  and  the  adjoining  towns,  by  the  name  of  Tom 
Cook.  He  had  many  eccentricities,  among  which  was  a 
habit  of  stealing  from  the  rich  to  give  to  the  poor.  In 
horse-stealing  he  was  specially  expert.  He  was  frequent- 
ly arrested,  tried,  convicted,  and  sentenced  to  short  terms 
of  imprisonment  at  "  the  Castle "  (now  Fort  Indepen- 
dence), that  being  then  the  common  prison  for  all  of- 
fenders in  Boston  and  vicinity. 

On  one  occasion  Tom  stole  a  goose  from  a  country- 
man's wagon,  which  was  under  the  shed,  at  Dana's 
Tavern  ;  not,  however,  with  generous  designs  for  any 
of  his  poor  proteges,  but  for  the  satisfying  of  his  own 
appetite.  But  as  an  uncooked  goose  would  be  about  as 
unsatisfactory  as  no  goose  at  all,  Tom  resorted  to  the  old 
school-house  —  school  not  being  in  session  —  to  cook  and 
devour  it.  The  school-house  was  in  what  is  now  School 
Street,  at  the  corner  of  Prospect  Street,  then  concealed 


DANA'S  TAVERN.  51 

from  observation  on  the  east  by  a  high  hill.  The  nearest 
house  was  the  great  square  old  house  on  Harvard  Street, 
which  was  removed  two  or  three  years  ago  from  the 
corner  of  Harvard  Avenue.  It  was  occupied  by  Esquire 
Sharp,  the  School  Committee  and  Justice  of  the  Peace. 
The  Squire  with  his  sharp  eye  on  the  interests  of  the 
town,  discovered  a  smoke  arising  from  the  school-house 
chimney,  and  as  "  where  there  is  smoke  there  must  be 
fire,"  he  proceeded  to  reconnoitre,  and  caught  Tom  in 
the  very  act  of  roasting  the  goose.  Laying  the  strong 
hand  of  the  law  upon  him,  he  made  him  confess  where 
he  got  the  fowl,  and  march  back  with  it,  under  his  own 
escort,  to  the  tavern  ;  and  before  the  assembled  inmates 
of  the  bar-room,  gave  him  his  choice  to  take,  then  and 
there,  a  public  whipping,  or  be  tried  and  sent  to  the  Cas- 
tle. Tom  considered  briefly,  and  decided  to  take  the 
whipping. 

The  countrymen  agreed,  and  flourished  their  long 
whips  upon  him  with  such  vigor,  that  Tom's  appetite 
for  roast  goose  was  abated  in  a  summary  manner,  and 
the  punishment  proved  more  effectual  than  his  various 
sojourns  at  the  Castle. 

The  same  causes  which  tended  to  reduce  the  "  Punch 
Bowl,''  caused  the  Dana  Tavern  to  be  discontinued  as  a 
public-house,  and  for  several  years  it  was  let  as  a  tene- 
ment house. 

It  was  destroyed  by  fire  in  January,  1816.     It  was  in 
the  night;  and  Benjamin  Bradley,  afterward  the  owner' 
of  "  Bradley's  Hill,"  saved  the  life  of  a  woman  and  child 
by  mounting  a  long  ladder  and  taking  them  from   an 
upper  window. 

Let  us  hope  this  good  deed  was  set  down  to  his  account. 

In  front  of  the  old  Dana  Tavern,  on  ground  that  is 
now  Harvard  Square,  there  stood  for  many  years  the 


52  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

only  hay-scales  in  the  place.  (This  was  prior  to  the  days 
of  those  alluded  in  the  previous  pages.)  These  were 
placed  there  by  Dr.  Aspinwall,  Senior.  They  presented 
almost  exactly  the  appearance  of  a  gallows,  there  being 
a  vertical  beam  with  a  horizontal  one  extending  from  it. 
To  weigh  a  load  with  this  clumsy  contrivance  the  horses 
were  detached,  the  wheels  chained,  and  the  wagon  and 
its  contents  lifted  bodily  off  the  ground  by  the  use  of 
fifty-six  pound  weights  successively  applied  till  the  result 
was  reached.  How  they  ascertained  the  fractional  parts 
of  fifty-six  pounds  we  are  not  informed.  This  apparatus 
may  have  been  useful  but  could  hardly  have  been  orna- 
mental to  the  neighborhood. 

With  the  exception  of  the  hay-scales  the  ground  for- 
merly occupied  by  the  tavern  and  out-buildings  remained 
vacant  for  several  years  after  the  fire.  It  was  owned  by 
the  heirs  of  Jonathan  Dana,  one  of  whom  was  a  minor 
child  living  in  Maine,  the  other  a  youth  following  the 
sea.  The  property  was  of  course  under  guardianship.  - 

In  the  year  1827,  the  few  Baptists  living  in  Brookline 
began  to  hold  meetings  in  private  houses  in  this  neigh- 
borhood. There  had  been  for  several  years  before, 
gatherings  of  persons  calling  themselves  "  New  Lights," 
who  mostly  met  in  the  upper  part  of  the  town,  who 
drew  in  all  who  for  any  reason  had  lost  interest  in  the 
old  or  First  Church.  There  were  many  shades  of  belief 
among  these  people,  some  of  whom  came  out  on  the 
strong  ground  of  Orthodoxy,  and  connected  themselves 
with  the  churches  of  that  faith  at  Brighton  or  Roxbury, 
while  others  became  Baptists,  and  joined  the  church  of 
Father  Grafton  at  Newton,  or  the  churches  at  Roxbury 
or  Cambridge. 

The  meetings  held  by  the  Baptists  were  soon  too  fully 
attended  to  be  accommodated  in  private  houses,  and  they 


THE    BAPTIST    CHAPEL.  53 

began  to  think  of  securing  a  piece  of  ground  on  which 
to  build  a  chapel. 

But  the  spirit  of  the  times  was  averse  to  religious 
toleration,  and  the  old  animus  which  drove  Quakers 
behind  carts  in  Boston,  and  banished  Baptists  to  Rhode 
Island,  had  not  wholly  died  out ;  and  an  opposition  was 
raised  which  aimed  to  prevent  the  success  of  the  enter- 
prise, if  possible. 

The  principal  movers  in  the  Baptist  interest  were  Dea- 
cons Elijah  and  Timothy  Corey,  Deacon  Thomas  Griggs, 
David  Coolidge,  and  Elijah  Corey,  Junior.  This  com- 
mittee were  desirous  of  securing  the  land  owned  by  the 
Dana  heirs,  and  after  some  trouble  and  a  visit  to  East- 
port,  finally  succeeded  in  hiring  on  a  three  years'  lease 
that  part  of  the  land  which  belonged  to  the  heir  in  Maine. 
They  in  the  mean  time  had  their  timber  got  out  for  a 
chapel,  and  all  ready  to  put  together,  hoping  that  when 
the  other  heir  returned  from  sea  they  should  be  able  to 
get  possession  of  the  remainder  of  the  land. 

The  chapel  was  raised  in  the  early  part  of  1828,  and 
occupied  in  March  as  a  place  of  worship,  greatly  to 
the  surprise  of  the  opposition,  who  little  imagined  how 
energetically  their  Baptist  neighbors  were  at  work.  It 
scarcely  seems  credible,  yet  it  is  true,  that  a  wealthy 
gentleman  then  residing  in  town,  whose  zeal  for  his  own 
sect  was  more  active  than  his  love  for  his  neighbor,  actu- 
ally sent  his  carriage  and  horses  regularly  to  the  door 
of  the  Baptist  Chapel,  at  evening  service,  to  convey  to 
Brighton  to  the  Congregational  meetings,  any  who  could 
be  induced  to  go. 

In  the  mean  time  the  heir  returned  from  sea,  and  the 
guardian  purchased  for  himself  the  much  desired  residue 
of  the  land. 

On  the  5th  of  June,  1828,  thirty-six  individuals,  eleven 


54  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

males  and  twenty-five  females,  were  publicly  organized 
as  a  church.  The  congregation  at  once  became  so  large 
that  their  little  new  chapel  would  not  hold  them,  and 
steps  were  soon  taken  to  build  a  church.  The  five  gentle- 
men above  mentioned  agreed  to  build  it  at  their  own 
expense,  and  each  give  a  certain  percentage  of  the  whole 
cost,  whatever  it  might  be. 

Deacon  E.  Corey  pledged  forty  per  cent.,  Deacon  T. 
Corey  and  Deacon  Griggs  each  twenty  per  cent.,  and 
the  others  each  ten.  The  church  was  built  at  a  cost  of 
about  six  thousand  dollars  ;  a  few  friends  who  had  moved 
in  gave  from  ten  to  a  hundred  dollars  each,  and  the  work 
was  paid  for.  But  there  was  no  room  for  sheds,  and 
hardly  room  enough  to  walk  around  the  church  on  the 
west  side,  on  their  own  ground  which  they  had  now 
bought. 

At  last  the  owner  of  the  much  desired  piece  of  land, 
seeing  that  the  church  was  built,  signified  his  willingness 
to  sell  for  a  sufficient  bonus. 

Deacon  Corey  offered  fifty  bushels  of  corn,  in  addition 
to  what  was  asked  in  money,  and  his  offer  was  accepted. 
The  land  was  secured,  the  sheds  built,  a  strip  west  of 
them  now  in  Mr.  Panter's  yard  was  sold  to  Mr.  Holden, 
the  next,  owner  on  that  side,  and  thenceforward  the  Bap- 
tist ship  sailed  in  smooth  water. 

The  meeting-house  was  dedicated  November  20,  1828. 
But  the  little  chapel  stood  in  front  of  it,  and  the  gallows- 
like  hay-scales  in  front  of  that.  The  hay-scales  were 
bought  and  taken  down,  the  chapel  moved  to  the  rear  of 
the  church  and  altered  over  into  a  parsonage ;  it  still 
stands  with  additions  and  improvements,  next  south  of 
the  present  church.  The  green  in  front  of  the  church 
was  fenced  and  planted  with  trees,  and  soon  became  a 
very  attractive  spot. 


THE  BAPTIST  MEETING-HOUSE.  55 

The  meeting-house  had  a  brick  basement  for  a  vestry, 
partially  under  ground,  and  was  entered  by  a  door  from 
the  side  next  Harvard  Street. 

The  building  was  painted  white  on  the  outside,  but 
inside  it  was  unpainted  and  uncarpeted,  except  the  pulpit 
and  front  of  the  gallery.  The  pulpit  being  white,  had 
a  green  blind  behind  it  as  a  back-ground,  and  the  read- 
ing-desk was  draped  with  red  damask  in  folds  which  were 
hung  with  tassels  like  a  fringe.  The  counting  of  these 
tassels  beguiled  many  a  weary  juvenile  who  could  not 
appreciate  the  strong  doctrine  on  which  the  seniors  were 
fed.  The  gallery,  on  the  southerly  end  over  the  vesti- 
bule, was  occupied  by  a  volunteer  choir,  of  which  Mr. 
David  Coolidge  was  for  many  years  the  leader,  while  his 
daughter  was  "head  singer,"  among  the  female  voices. 
The  instrumental  music  was  furnished  by  a  bass-viol,  or 
sometimes  a  violin,  in  the  hands  of  an  eccentric  old  man 
by  the  name  of  Humphrey,  and  irreverent  urchins  were 
only  too  ready  to  laugh  at  the  sawings  and  scrapings  of 
what  they  termed  u  Daddy  Humphrey's  fiddle." 

The  house  was  heated  by  a  square  box-stove,  the 
funnels  extending  over  each  aisle  and  hung  with  little 
tin  pails  to  catch  the  drip  of  the  steam  generated  by  the 
wood  fire. 

In  the  vestibule  hung  a  frame  in  which  from  time  to 
time  the  "  publishments  "  of  parties  about  to  marry  were 
hung  for  three  weeks,  to  be  read  by  all  who  chose  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  interesting  information. 

In  the  year  1830,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Driver  was  settled 
as  the  first  pastor.  For  some  reason  his  stay  was  short, 
and  he  was  succeeded  the  following  year  by  Rev.  Joseph 
A.  Warne,  an  Englishman,  who  was  said  to  be  "•  mighty 
in  the  Scriptures." 

Sixty-five  persons  were  added  to  the  church  during  the 


56  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF    BROOKLINK. 

six  years  of  his  pastoral  labors.  Mr.  Warne  had  an  ac- 
quaintance, an  Englishman,  living  in  another  town,  who 
was  something  of  an  organ-builder,  and  he  was  very  de- 
sirous that  his  friend  should  have  an  opportunity  to  exer- 
cise his  skill  on  behalf  of  his  parish.  Accordingly  he 
built  a  small  organ  (which  proved  to  be  a  miserable  af- 
fair), and  Mrs.  Warne  was  organist.  Mr.  Humphrey's 
bass-viol  was  banished  to  the  vestry,  where  he  had  abun- 
dant opportunity  to  use  it.  This  old  man  invariably  car- 
ried with  him  to  church  a  good-sized  round  bundle,  in  a 
red  pocket-handkerchief.  It  lay  upon  the  seat  beside 
him  and  was  carried  away  by  him  to  his  home  after  ser- 
vice. What  it  contained  was  a  mystery  to  the  young- 
sters which  was  never  explained. 

Mr.  Warne  was  an  irritable  man  and  very  abrupt  in 
speech.  On  one  occasion  when  his  friend's  organ  gave  a 
prolonged  squeal  instead  of  the  desired  harmony,  he  called 
out  to  his  wife  across  the  church,  "  Emma,  stop  that  or- 
gan !  It  makes  me  nervous  !  " 

A  lady  parishioner  entered  one  Sunday,  and  as  there 
were  others  behind  her  whom  she  expected  would  follow, 
she  left  the  door  open.  She  had  not  reached  her  pew  be- 
fore she  was  startled  by  Mr.  Warne,  calling  out  sharply, 
"  Go  back  and  shut  that  door  I "  an  injunction  hardly 
conducive  to  devotional  feelings  we  should  judge. 

On  another  occasion,  not  in  church,  he  told  his  ex- 
cellent senior  deacon,  who  used  to  sing  in  the  vestry 
"with  the  spirit  and  the  understanding  also,"  that  his 
singing  always  reminded  him  "  of  a  pig  under  a  gate" 

Mr.  Warne's  soundness  of  doctrine  was  thought  by 
many  to  be  a  sufficient  offset  for  his  lack  of  "  the  sweet 
charities  "  and  social  amenities,  but  not  all  his  mental 
acuteness,  or  vigor  in  expounding  the  Scriptures  could 
make  him  popular  with  the  young  people,  and  after 
nearly  six  years,  his  connection  with  the  church  ceased. 


BAPTIST    CLERGYMEN.  57 

He  was  succeeded  the  same  year,  1837,  by  Rev.  Wm. 
H.  Shailer,  now  of  Portland.  Mr.  Shailer  was  pastor  of^ 
the  church  sixteen  years  and  was  much  beloved.  The 
next  year  after  Mr.  Shailer's  ministry  began,  the  attend- 
ance became  so  large  that  it  was  found  necessary  to  en- 
large the  church  edifice.  It  was  raised  higher,  several 
new  pews  were  added,  a  mahogany  pulpit  took  the  place 
of  the  pine  one,  the  whole  house  was  painted,  inside  and 
out,  the  aisles  were  carpeted,  a  new  organ  bought,  the 
damp  and  mouldy  vestry  was  enlarged  and  made  lighter 
and  dryer,  a  furnace  was  put  in,  and  altogether  the  place 
assumed  a  modern  air. 

In  February,  1 854,  Mr.  Shailer  having  been  repeatedly 
invited  to  Portland,  resigned  his  charge  here,  and  re- 
moved to  that  place.  Under  his  ministry  the  church  here 
received  two  hundred  and  four  additional  members. 

In  Mr.  Warne's  day  the  rite  of  baptism  was  at  first 
administered  in  the  open  air  in  the  salt  water  at  tlie  lower 
end  of  the  village.  Where  Muddy  River  passes  under 
the  street,  now  narrowed  to  a  scanty  stream,  and  almost 
covered  with  the  houses  of  the  Irish  population,  was  then 
a  broad,  clear  stream,  or  "  creek,"  as  it  was  generally 
called,  at  certain  states  of  the  tide,  convenient  for  this 
purpose. 

Some  large  flat  stones  were  arranged  as  stepping  stones 
for  the  minister  and  candidates. 

The  same  spirit  that  would  have  prevented  the  build- 
ing of  the  church  if  possible,  prompted  some  ill-disposed 
person  to  remove  the  principal  stone  one  Sabbath,  when 
a  baptism  was  to  take  place,  and  the  result  was  that  Mr. 
Warne  took  a  deep  step  into  the  stream  unexpectedly 
and  somewhat  ungracefully.  He  recovered  himself,  how- 
ever, and  the  ceremony  proceeded,  but  after  that  a  bap- 
tistery was  provided  in  the  meeting-house. 


58  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

During  Mr.  Shailer's  ministry  the  church  frequently 
resorted  to  the  beautiful  bend  of  Charles  River  always 
known  as  the  "bathing  place."  Since  then,  Jamaica 
Pond  has  been  the  favorite  resort  for  open  air  baptism, 
but  this  is  less  frequently  practiced  of  late  years  than  for- 
merly. 

The  bend  of  the  river  alluded  to  above  was  bordered 
by  a  pebbly  beach,  half  screened  by  overhanging  trees 
and  clustering  bushes  on  either  side  of  the  farm  road  by 
which  it  was  approached.  The  trees  and  shrubs  are  now 
gone  and  the  whole  place  for  half  a  mile  is  covered  with 
a  network  of  railroad  tracks. 


HARRISON    PLACE.  59 


CHAPTER  IV. 

HARRISON    PLACE.  ST.    MARY'S     CHURCH. LINDEN    PLACE 

THOMAS    A.    DAVIS.  ASPINWALL    AVENUE,    OR,     "  PERRY'S 

LANE." 

T)EFORE  proceeding  further  up  Harvard  Street  in  our 
-*-*  description,  it  will  be  necessary  to  turn  aside  a  lit- 
tle and  mention  briefly  the  "  Places,"  leading  off  from  it 
along  the  easterly  side. 

Harrison  Place  was  originally  nothing  but  a  cart-road 
leading  across  the  Davis  farm  by  the  old  house  and  barn, 
down  to  the  marsh  which  was  then  undreamed  of  for  any 
other  use  than  the  production  of  salt  hay. 

Could  one  of  the  old  proprietors  awaken  from  a  sort  of 
Rip  Van  Winkle  sleep  and  see  the  roads  and  dwellings 
and  people  that  now  cover  the  once  green  acres  where 
the  tide  rose  and  fell,  and  the  wild  ducks  swam,  and  the 
sea-gulls  came  sailing  in  on  their  white  wings  before  a 
storm,  he  would  be  quite  as  amazed  as  at  any  other  dis- 
covery his  astonished  eyes  might  make. 

Nearly  down  the  slope  of  the  upland  this  cart-road  led 
to  a  beautiful,  clear  spring  of  cold  water  which  was  over- 
shadowed by  a  great  oak  tree. 

Under  its  wide-spreading  branches  the  men  of  the  vil- 
lage used  to  assemble  on  "  Election  Day  "  and  "  Fourth 
of  July,"  to  celebrate  and  make  merry  with  unlimited 
quantities  of  punch.  There  are  people  among  us,  not 
very  old,  who  speak  of  having  seen  "  a  bushel  of  lemon 
rinds  "  at  a  time  as  the  debris  of  such  a  festivity. 


60  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  attractions  in  Boston  were  not  so  great  as  in  more 
modern  times  ;  no  long  steam-trains  rolled  shrieking  and 
smoking  into  the  city  on  holidays,  swarming  with  their 
living  freight,  neither  did  crowded  horse-cars  afford  their 
patrons  the  opportunity  to  pay  for  the  privilege  of  hang- 
ing up  by  a  leather  strap  during  a  four  miles'  ride. 

On  the  contrary,  Boston  parties  of  Masons  in  regalia, 
or  truckmen  in  their  white  frocks,  with  bands  of  music, 
and  sometimes  a  military  escort,  used  to  make  equestrian 
trips  through  Brookline,  stopping  often  at  the  "  Punch 
Bowl,"  and  returning  through  Brighton  and  Cambridge 
on  Independence  days.  So  those  who  stayed  at  home 
solaced  themselves  with  the  sights  that  came  out  to  be 
seen,  and  vented  their  patriotism  in  punch  and  gunpow- 
der under  the  old  oak.  The  boys  found  it  a  favorite  re- 
sort in  their  games,  and  the  hay-makers  in  summer  noons 
rested  under  its  shade. 

But  the  punch  drinking  proved  the  bane  of  many  who 
indulged  in  it,  and  one  of  the  proprietors  not  liking  the 
idea  of  having  that  sort  of  rendezvous  on  his  place,  cut 
down  the  grand  old  tree,  and  ended  the  sport  of  those 
who  frequented  it. 

After  the  farm  was  sold,  the  first  house  built  upon  a 
lot  purchased  from  it,  was  the  one  formerly  owned  and 
occupied  by  the  late  David  R.  Griggs,  now  (1871)  owned 
by  Dr.  Lowe.  Mr.  Griggs  occupied  the  house  till  a  few 
years  before  his  death.  He  was  so  long  identified  with 
the  neighborhood,  and  so  much  beloved  as  a  superintend- 
ent of  the  Baptist  Sabbath-school  for  many  years,  that 
he  will  be  well  remembered  and  long  missed  by  all  con- 
nected with  that  society  and  living  in  that  vicinity  ;  and 
hosts  of  other  warm  friends  will  ever  cherish  his  memory 
with  tenderness. 

Mr.  Griggs'  house  was  built  in  1833,  but  the  road-way 


ANDEM  PLACE.  —  CHURCH  OF  ST.  MARY.       61 

was  not  opened  to  its  present  length  till  1837,  when  the 
house  now  occupied  by  Mrs.  Phillips  was  built  for  Mr. 
Luther  Thayer,  who  soon  died,  and  the  house  was  pur- 
chased by  Mr.  Mellen,  who  occupied  it  for  several  years. 
The  name  of  Harrison  Place  was  first  given  it  in  1840  in 
honor  of  President  Harrison. 

Andera  Place  was  not  opened  until  some  ten  years 
later,  and  was  named  for  Moses  Andem,  who  lived  for 
many  years  in  the  old  Davis  house.  For  some  little  time 
the  Catholics  of  Brookline  had  held  services  on  Sundays 
in  Lyceum  Hall.  In  1854  the  Church  of  "  St.  Mary  " 
was  built  in  Andem  Place,  and  was  first  occupied  for  reg- 
ular services  on  Christmas  Day  of  that  year.  Rev.  Mr. 
O'Bierne  was  the  first  priest  of  the  parish,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Rev.  J.  M.  Finotti  in  1856. 

In  1855,  on  Thanksgiving  Day,  November  27th,  the 
church  narrowly  escaped  being  destroyed  by  fire,  from 
some  accidental  cause.  It  was  repaired  and  has  since 
been  enlarged  and  improved.  The  great  increase  of  this 
congregation  made  it  necessary  that  there  should  be  an 
assistant  in  the  clergyman's  duties,  and  for  some  time 
Rev.  J.  C.  Murphy  was  associated  with  Father  Finotti  as 
colleague.  The  latter  gentleman  closed  his  labors  with 
this  church  at  Easter,  1873,  leaving  the  parish  in  charge 
of  Rev.  Mr.  Lamb.  This  young  man  was  much  devoted 
to  the  interest  of  the  young  people  in  his  church,  and 
was  highly  popular.  But  greatly  to  the  regret  of  all,  his 
health  failed,  and  he  went  South  hoping  for  restoration. 
He  died  in  New  York  on  his  way  home,  July  5,  1873, 
and  his  body  was  brought  to  St.  Mary's  Church,  where 
impressive  funeral  services  were  held,  attended  by  an  im- 
mense congregation.  Father  Lamb  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  L.  J.  Morris,  the  present  pastor. 

A  branch  of  the  great  Catholic  Temperance  organiza- 


62  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF    BROOKLINE. 

tion,  called  St.  Mary's  Total  Abstinence  Society,  is  con- 
nected with  this  church. 

Webster  Place,  named  for  the  great  statesman,  is  of 
more  recent  date  than  either  of  the  others,  the  only  house 
built  previous  to  1850  being  the  first  on  the  left,  built  by 
Mr.  Bela  Stoddard  and  now  occupied  by  his  son-in-law, 
Mr.  A.  L.  Lincoln. 

To  picture  Harvard  Street  as  it  was  previous  to  1843, 
it  will  be  necessary  to  recall  briefly  the  description  re- 
specting the  entrance  to  this  street,  from  the  "  square," 
so  called,  —  on  the  right  there  being  no  house,  after  Mr. 
Griggs'  residence  on  the  corner,  except  Mr.  Stoddard's 
just  mentioned,  as  far  as  A  spin  wall  Avenue.  On  the 
left,  after  the  old  Baptist  Church,  with  the  sheds  and 
parsonage  behind  it,  were  Mr.  Seaverns'  buildings  on  the 
top  of  the  hill,  accessible  only  by  a  rather  steep  drive- 
way, or  numerous  wooden  steps  in  a  terraced  bank,  the 
common  sidewalk  going  up  over  the  lower  terrace.  From 
there  to  School  Street  was  no  building.  The  street,  dug 
somewhat  below  the  level  of  the  hill,  was  much  higher 
than  at  present,  and  bordered  by  high  banks  on  either 
side,  with  a  low  stone  wall  on  the  top  of  each,  overhung 
all  the  way  on  the  left  side  by  barberry  bushes,  with  here 
and  there  a  wild  cherry  or  apple  tree.  On  the  right,  the 
bank  was  overgrown  with  blackberry  bushes,  and  other 
wild  shrubs  and  vines,  and  some  young  buttonwoods 
which  had  sprung  up  from  old  stumps,  for  Brookline  was 
luxuriant  with  buttonwoods  until  a  comparatively  recent 
date. 

These  trees  made  a  litter  with  their  falling  bark  and 
downy  round  balls,  but  they  were  picturesque,  with  their 
bare  white  spots,  and  made  a  grand  shade  when  the  mer- 
cury was  rampant  among  the  nineties,  for  they  often 
towered  to  a  great  height  besides  being  spreading,  and 
thickly  set  with  their  fan-like  leaves. 


LINDEN   PLACE.  —  THE  DAVIS  FAMILY.  63 

The  site  of  Linden  Place  was  formerly  an  extensive 
cherry  and  apple  orchard.  An  old  barn  stood  where  the 
entrance  is,  with  a  pair  of  bars  beside  it,  where  a  cart-road 
began.  This  ground  remained  the  property  of  the  Davis 
family  till  1843,  though  often  called  "  Holden's  farm,"  a 
Mr.  James  Holden  having  married  the  widow  of  Mr. 
Eben  Davis,  3d.  It  was  then  laid  out  in  house  lots  and 
sold  at  public  auction.  It  was  the  first  land  thus  sold 
in  Brookline,  and  the  highest  price  paid  for  any  part  of  it 
was  five  and  a  half  cents  a  foot. 

Times  have  changed  since  then,  and  it  is  perhaps  pos- 
sible, that  there  are  children  now  living  in  the  town  who 
will  see  it  five  and  a  half  dollars  a  foot. 

The  central  lot  was  taken  by  Mr.  Thomas  Aspinwall 
Davis,  and  for  him  was  built  the  house  now  occupied  by 
Mr.  Goodnow. 

Hon.  Thomas  Aspinwall  Davis,  who  built  the  house 
in  the  centre  of  Linden  Place,  was  born  in  the  old  Davis 
house  in  Harrison  Place,  in  December,  1798,  and  was 
baptized  in  infancy  by  Rev.  Dr.  Pierce,  then  the  only 
minister  in  Brookline.  He  was  the  child  of  Eben  Davis, 
3d. 

His  name  was  given  him  in  honor  of  his  maternal 
grandfather  and  great-grandfather,  his  mother  being  of 
the  Aspinwall  family  and  the  Gardners,  two  of  the  oldest 
families  on  record  in  the  town.  He  was  a  bright  and 
interesting  boy,  ready  to  learn  according  to  his  oppor- 
tunities in  the  Brookline  schools,  and  full  of  the  activities 
of  boyhood,  nutting  in  the  Aspinwall  woods,  hunting  and 
fishing  along  the  marshes  and  creeks,  and  ingenious  with 
tools.  A  little  cider-mill  of  his  construction  is  remem- 
bered by  the  playmates  of  his  childhood.  While  a  boy 
rambling  over  the  marshes  one  day,  he  was  accidentally 
shot  in  the  breast  by  a  Brookline  gentleman  who  was 


64  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

aiming  at  a  flock  of  plovers  on  the  wing.  Much  alarm 
was  felt  at  first,  but  no  permanent  injury  resulted  from 
it,  and  the  gentleman  made  all  the  restitution  possible. 
When  the  boy  was  fourteen  years  of  age  he  was  placed 
in  a  jeweller's  shop  in  Boston  to  learn  the  business,  com- 
ing home  only  on  Saturday  nights,  which  occasions  were 
looked  forward  to  with  the  greatest  pleasure  by  the 
family.  He  soon  became  acquainted  with  a  young  Paris- 
ian who  could  speak  no  English,  and  they  became  mutual 
teachers,  each  thus  learning  the  other's  language. 

Few  young  men  in  High  School  or  College  devote 
themselves  more  assiduously  to  culture  than  did  young 
Davis.  Instead  of  rushing  into  wild  gayeties  as  soon  as 
business  hours  were  over,  as  too  many  did  then  as  well 
as  now,  he  turned  his  attention  to  his  beloved  books,  and 
read  and  studied  upon  the  various  sciences,  writing  out 
a  synopsis  of  each  book  as  he  progressed,  the  better  to 
fix  it  in  his  memory. 

When  he  had  an  interval  of  leisure  from  business,  he 
procured  a  complete  set  of  Blackstone  and  studied  law. 
Some  changes  in  business,  and  openings  at  the  South 
made  it  necessary  for  him  to  be  sent  to  New  Orleans, 
and  before  he  was  twenty-three  years  of  age  he  had 
twice  made  a  tour  from  Boston  to  New  Orleans,  chiefly 
in  a  private  carriage,  attended  with  some  fatigue  and 
hardship,  but  giving  him  fine  opportunities  for  observa- 
tion and  a  knowledge  of  men. 

After  his  return  from  the  second  trip  he  established 
himself  with  Mr.  Julius  Palmer  in  the  jewelry  business 
in  Boston,  in  which  he  continued  until  chosen  Mayor  of 
Boston  in  1845.  At  that  time  he  was  living  in  Linden 
Place  and  devoting  his  leisure  to  ornamenting  his  grounds 
with  choice  trees  and  shrubbery. 

He  was  not  a  very  robust  man,  and  the  duties  and 


THE   CAMBRIDGE   ROAD.  65 

cares  of  his  office  were  too  great  a  tax  for  his  physical 
endurance. 

He  was  taken  sick  in  the  autumn,  and  after  a  few 
week's  illness  died  November  22, 1845.  He  had  been  in 
his  early  manhood  a  member  of  Park  Street  Church, 
Boston,  but  at  the  time  of  his  death  was  connected  with 
the  Winter  Street  or  Central  Church.  Rev.  Mr.  Rogers, 
his  pastor,  being  in  Europe  at  the  time,  Dr.  Pierce  of 
Brookline,  the  pastor  of  his  youth,  was  requested  to 
preach  the  funeral  sermon. 

Mr.  Davis  was  greatly  beloved  and  most  sincerely  la- 
mented. He  was  buried  in  the  family  tomb  in  Brookline, 
where  five  generations  of  his  ancestors  had  been  laid 
away.  Like  the  good  men  of  old  he  was  literally  "gath- 
ered to  his  fathers."  Mr.  Davis  left  a  widow  but  no 
children.  His  house  and  grounds  were  sold ;  and  this 
property  has  changed  owners  more  frequently  than  any 
other  in  Linden  Place.  There  are  now  but  three  of  the 
original  owners  of  houses  in  that  place  still  living  there. 

Leaving  Linden  Place  we  pass  up  "  the  Cambridge 
Road,"  as  Harvard  Street  was  called,  between  its  bush- 
grown  banks  till  we  come  to  Aspinwall  Avenue,  only  a 
narrow  lane  with  a  gateway.  On  the  left  as  we  enter, 
the  brook  which  comes  through  under  the  road  (Harvard 
Street),  makes  a  sweeping  curve  and  goes  under  the  lane. 
Beside  the  low  stone  wall  on  the  left,  on  the  grassy  bank 
beyond  the  brook  stand  two  great  willow  trees  whose 
pendent  branches,  overhanging  the  brook  and  the  lane, 
droop  so  low  that  the  children  can  reach  them  as  they 
come  there  to  play  during  the  "  nooning,"  from  the  old 
school-house  in  "  School-house  Lane."  The  brick  store 
now  covers  the  place  where  we  used  to  swing  on  the  old 
willows  and  hunt  for  "  Jack  in  the  Pulpit,"  in  the  meadow 
behind  the  wall,  in  the  early  spring.  The  side  of  the 


66  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

lane  where  the  "  blue  eyed  grass  "  grew,  is  covered  by  a 
row  of  houses,  and  the  brook  where  we  dipped  up  the 
froth,  and  traced  the  musk-rat  by  his  perfume,  and  sailed 
our  freighted  chips,  is  concealed  by  stone  and  gravel  and 
is  no  longer  a  brook  but  a  sewer. 

Further  along  on  the  left,  near  the  old  house  which 
Mr.  Melcher  has  tastefully  rejuvenated,  was  a  great  but- 
ternut tree,  where  the  children  hunted  for  butternuts  in 
the  autumn.  Another  stood  upon  the  right,  and  the  field 
in  front  of  the  old  mansion  which  yet  overlooks  its  green 
acres  is  still  almost  unchanged.  This  ancient  house  was 
once  no  doubt  by  far  the  finest  in  the  town. 


THE   ASPINWALL   FAMILY.  67 


CHAPTER  V. 

THE    ASPINWALL  FAMILY. THE  COLONEL. THE  DOCTOR. 

THE     OLD    SCHOOL-HOUSE    ON    SCHOOL    STREET. 

IN  1660,  Peter  Aspinwall  built  the  house  which  still 
stands,  the  most  ancient  in  our  town,  or  probably  any- 
where in  this  vicinity,  and  from  him  it  passed  to  his  son 
Samuel,  who  was  quite  a  military  hero.  In  1690,  when  Sir 
William  Phipps  took  possession  of  the  fort  at  Port  Royal? 
and  of  the  coast  as  far  as  the  Penobscot  River,  Samuel  As- 
pinwall served  under  him  as  lieutenant  in  the  expedition. 

Afterwards  he  was  captain  of  a  Brookline  company. 
The  muster-roll  of  this  ancient  company  would  be  an  in- 
teresting document. 

In  1727,  at  the  age  of  sixty-five,  the  Captain  was 
drowned  in  Charles  River,  not  far  from  his  farm.  One 
can  imagine  something  of  the  sensation  this  event  must 
have  produced  in  this  thinly  settled  town  ;  the  loss  of 
so  prominent  a  citizen,  the  search  for  the  body, — the 
military  procession,  for  he  was  buried  under  arms,  —  the 
long  funeral  sermon,  probably  in  the  little  church  then 
only  ten  years  built,  —  the  vacant  seat  in  the  square  pew, 
"  in  the  northwest  corner,"  —  the  muffled  drums,  and  the 
volley  fired  over  the  grave. 

And  how  it  was  doubtless  the  topic  of  conversation 
among  neighbors  when  they  met  for  weeks  after,  and 
with  what  superstitious  awe  they  looked  upon  the  fore- 
runner or  "  warning  "  as  they  probably  considered  it,  that 
he  should  have  selected  for  his  morning  reading  at  family 


68  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

devotions  the  27th  chapter  of  the  Proverbs,  beginning, 
"  Boast  not  thyself  of  to-morrow,  for  thou  knowest  not 
what  a  day  may  bring  forth." 

One  of  the  Captain's  sons,  Thomas  by  name,  was  a 
lieutenant  in  the  company  commanded  by  his  father. 
He  lived  and  died  upon  the  farm.  His  wife  was  Johan- 
nah,  daughter  of  Caleb  Gardner,  and  thus  the  connection 
of  these  two  ancient  families  was  formed  to  which  we 
have  heretofore  alluded.  His  son,  William,  the  celebrated 
physician  (of  whom  more  hereafter),  married  a  daughter 
of  Captain  Isaac  Gardner,  who  was  killed  at  Lexington. 

Of  the  seven  children  of  Lieutenant  Thomas  and  Jo- 
hannah  Gardner,  another  besides  the  doctor  deserves  par- 
ticular mention.  This  was  Thomas,  who  bore  up  the 
military  fame  of  his  father,  grandfather,  and  great-grand- 
father by  efficient  service  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution. 

He  held  a  colonel's  commission  and  commanded  the 
fort  in  this  town  at  Sewall's  Point. 

The  fort  mounted  six  guns,  which  commanded  Charles 
River,  and  was  built  to  prevent  the  British  from  ascend- 
ing the  river  in  their  boats,  and  this,  with  old  Fort  Wash- 
ington on  the  Cambridge  side,  doubtless  saved  the  country 
along  the  river  from  many  depredations.  A  water-bat- 
tery mounting  two  guns  was  on  the  present  site  of  the 
Longwood  School-house  near  St.  Mary's  Street. 

The  family  of  the  Colonel  lived  in  a  large  two-story 
house  which  stood  near  the  residence  of  the  late  Marshall 
Stearns,  on  Sewall  Avenue.  The  Colonel  probably  re- 
garded his  house  as  in  an  exposed  situation,  in  case  the 
fort  should  be  taken,  and  he  sent  his  family  away  to 
Sherborn,  where  they  remained  till  after  the  British  evac- 
uated Boston. 

The  old  fort  remained  in  good  preservation  till  the 
Worcester  Railroad  was  built,  and  as  that  was  laid  out 


ANECDOTE   OF   GENERAL   WASHINGTON.  69 

directly  through  it,  and  Abbott's  wharf  was  afterwards 
built  upon  the  water-front  of  it,  nothing  was  left  but  the 
well  on  the  left  of  the  driveway  to  the  wharf  and  the 
old  ovens  in  a  corner  of  the  estate  of  A.  A.  Lawrence, 
Esq.,  and  even  these  have  now  disappeared. 

A  venerable  lady  of  this  town,  long  since  dead,  who  re- 
membered the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and  Washington 
when  in  command  at  Cambridge,  used  to  speak  of  a  visit 
of  inspection  which  Washington  made  to  the  Brookline 
Fort.  Several  Brookline  boys,  full  of  eager  curiosity 
to  see  the  new  commander-in- chief,  pressed  quite  near, 
when  an  orderly  peremptorily  drove  them  back.  This 
attracted  the  General's  attention,  and  beckoning  the 
boys  towards  him,  he  laid  his  hand  kindly  upon  the 
head  of  a  little  fellow  who  approached  with  hat  in  hand, 
and  told  the  orderly  to  allow  the  boys  to  see  all  that 
was  to  be  seen.  We  do  not  know  that  this  anecdote  has 
ever  been  in  print  before,  but  it  was  current  among  the 
old  inhabitants  of  Brookline  and  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt  its  authenticity. 

The  house  in  which  the  Colonel  lived  was  afterwards 
occupied  by  his  son  John.  Through  some  misfortune  of 
his  it  passed  out  of  the  possession  of  his  family,  but  his 
widow  lived  in  it  with  a  son,  William,  who  is  still  re- 
membered as  a  patient,  bed-ridden  sufferer,  for  over  thirty 
years.  His  devoted  mother  attended  him  with  unfailing 
care  till  his  death,  when  she  was  over  eighty  years  of  age. 
She  did  not  long  survive  him,  and  soon  after  her  death 
the  old  house  was  destroyed  by  fire. 

A  great-grandson  of  the  Colonel,  and  grandson  of  the 
John  above  mentioned,  bearing  his  name,  has  kept  up  the 
military  character  of  the  family  by  good  service  in  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion,  and  daily  walks  our  streets  bearing 
trace  of  rebel  shot  or  shell  received  in  the  fight  at  Hat- 


70  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BBOOKLINE. 

teras  Inlet  where  he  served  as  engineer  of  the  Minne- 
sota. 

We  turn  now  once  more  to  the  ancient  house  in  Aspin- 
wall  Avenue.  The  youngest  brother  of  the  Revolution- 
ary colonel,  still  well  remembered  by  many  of  our  towns- 
people as  "  the  Doctor,"  was  born  in  1743. 

He  entered  Harvard  College  in  1760,  received  his  de- 
grees in  the  usual  course,  and  then  went  to  Connecticut, 
where  he  studied  medicine  under  Dr.  Gale,  then  a  cele- 
brated physician. 

Having  completed  his  course  by  attending  a  series  of 
medical  lectures  in  Philadelphia,  he  returned  to  Brookline, 
and  commenced  practice  at  the  age  of  twenty -six.  It  was 
seen  by  those  who  had  his  education  in  charge  that  he 
was  a  young  man  of  more  than  ordinary  promise,  and  the 
certificates  given  him,  and  still  preserved  by  his  family, 
are  unusually  commendatory. 

The  young  doctor  was  not  only  a  man  of  learning  but 
a  man  of  principle,  —  he  not  only  "  regarded  man  "  but 
he  feared  God,  and  he  took  up  his  life  work  in  an  earnest 
and  faithful  spirit.  His  personal  appearance  was  com- 
manding, as  he  was  a  fine  figure  and  over  six  feet  in 
height.  He  had  lost  the  sight  of  one  eye  in  childhood  by 
an  accident  with  an  arrow,  but  judging  from  his  portrait 
this  was  but  slightly  noticeable.  A  portrait  of  him  by 
Stuart  when  far  advanced  in  life  so  resembles  the  por- 
traits of  Washington,  that  when  the  house  of  his  son-in- 
law,  Lewis  Tappan,  Esq.,  was  sacked  by  a  pro-slavery 
mob  in  New  York,  many  years  ago,  this  portrait  was  the 
only  picture  spared.  Probably  the  rioters  mistook  it  for 
that  of  Washington  and  forebore  to  lay  their  desecrating 
hands  upon  even  the  painted  semblance  of  "  the  Father 
of  his  country." 

The  Doctor's  practice  grew  rapidly,  and  extended  far 


DR.   ASP1NWALL.  71 

and  wide,  so  that  he  frequently  rode  even  forty  miles  on 
horseback  to  visit  his  patients,  carrying  his  medicines  in 
saddle-bags,  as  was  the  custom  of  those  times. 

When  the  War  of  the  Revolution  broke  out  we  hear  of 
the  Brookline  doctor  first,  at  the  battle  of  Lexington. 
Regardless  of  personal  danger  he  was  hastening  to  the 
fight  in  the  red  coat  he  was  accustomed  to  wear,  when 
he  was  reminded  by  a  friend  that  he  might  be  taken  for 
a  British  "  red  coat  "  and  be  shot  by  his  friends,  so  he 
hastily  laid  that  garment  aside  and  donning  one  which 
would  prove  him  unmistakably  a  Yankee,  he  joined  the 
eager  throng  who  had  dropped  plough,  spade,  hammer, 
or  pen,  to  rally  at  the  insulted  country's  call.  The  road 
was  too  circuitous  for  men  on  such  an  errand,  and  taking 
a  short  cut  across  the  fields  and  "  over  the  river,"  they 
were  soon  in  the  deadly  fray.  Captain  Gardner,  of 
Brookline,  was  killed,  and  the  Doctor,  after  assisting  in 
chasing  the  retreating  British  to  Charlestown,  returned 
through  Cambridge  and  had  the  body  cared  for  that 
night,  and  in  the  morning  Mr.  John  Heath,  of  Brookline, 
went  to  Cambridge  and  brought  it  home  to  the  bereaved 
family. 

Dr.  Aspinwall  being  blind  in  one  eye,  was  obliged  to 
fire  from  the  left  shoulder,  but  he  proved  himself  a  sharp 
shooter  on  this  occasion,  being  seen  to  lay  one  if  not  more 
of  the  enemy  in  the  dust. 

He  applied  for  a  commission,  but  by  the  advice  of  his 
friend,  General  Joseph  Warren,  himself  a  physician,  he 
decided  to  serve  in  the  medical  department  and  save 
Yankees  instead  of  killing  the  British.  General  War- 
ren's brief  and  brilliant  career  was  speedily  closed  at 
Bunker  Hill,  but  Dr.  Aspinwall's  knowledge  and  skill 
were  in  requisition  not  only  through  the  war  but  long 
years  after. 


72  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

In  1775,  Dr.  Aspinwall  was  surgeon  at  St.  Thomas' 
Hospital  in  Roxbury.  In  1778  we  find  by  his  letters  to 
his  wife,  that  he  was  with  the  army  under  General  Sulli- 
van in  Rhode  Island. 

To  this  wife,  with  whom  he  lived  most  harmoniously 
thirty-eight  years,  he  wrote  most  devoted  and  charming 
letters.  We  make  one  brief  extract  which  sounds  re- 
freshing in  these  days  when  we  hear  so  much  of  conjugal 
infelicities. 

Alluding  to  a  letter  which  he  had  received  from  her 
the  day  before  "  with  great  joy  and  satisfaction,"  he 
says : — 

"  I  did  not  much  expect  you  would  write  me,  but  assure  you 
it  was  very  agreeable  to  hear  from  the  chief  or  sole  source  of 

all  my  earthly  happiness I  have  at  times,  almost  been 

tempted  to  return  and  relieve  your  anxious  solicitude  about  me, 
by  reason  of  the  dangers  I  may  possibly  be  exposed  to.  But 
my  duty  and  honor,  the  kindness  I  am  treated  with  by  the  offi- 
cers, their  great  desire  and  persuasion  to  have  me  tarry,  and 
the  importance  of  the  cause  I  am  engaged  in,  forbid  me  to  har- 
bor a  single  thought  of  returning  at  present.  I  rely  on  the 
protection  of  that  beneficent  Being  under  the  shadow  of  whose 
wings  I  have  trod  the  dangerous  and  thorny  paths  through  life 
with  safety.  On  Him  I  trust,  and  to  Him  I  pray,  that  I  may 
be  returned  to  the  arms  of  the  dearest  and  most  deserving  of 
women." 

Time  passed  on  and  "  the  dearest  and  most  deserving 
of  women  "  received  in  safety  her  affectionate  and  high- 
minded  husband,  who  forthwith  settled  himself  again  to 
the  work  of  a  village  doctor,  —  laborious  enough  at  best 
with  all  the  modern  appliances  and  conveniences,  but  in 
those  days  of  poor  and  unlighted  streets,  scattered  pop- 
ulation, and  bulky  medicines  imported  slowly  and  with 
difficulty  and  expense,  —  with  the  cumbersome  saddle- 


THE   SMALL-POX   HOSPITAL.  78 

bags,  the  prejudices  and  the  poverty  of  the  people,  his 
must  have  been  a  life  of  fatigue  and  anxiety  beyond  any- 
thing in  the  range  of  modern  experience. 

The  small-pox,  then  the  terror  of  the  whole  country, 
had  been  introduced  here  by  foreign  armies,  and  the 
practice  of  inoculation  for  it,  was  beginning  to  gain  a 
strong  foothold  in  spite  of  the  prejudices  which  it  en- 
countered. 

This  was  not  vaccination,  but  a  regular  inoculation 
with  the  virus  of  the  real  small-pox,  that  the  patient 
might  have  the  disease  by  appointment  instead  of  unex- 
pectedly, and  thus  be  relieved  of  all  future  apprehensions 
respecting  it. 

It  was  the  custom  of  those  times  to  carry  off  a  person 
showing  symptoms  of  the  dreaded  disease,  to  the  most 
remote  place  possible,  shut  him  up  there  with  one  attend- 
ant, put  out  a  red  flag  to  keep  all  passers  by  at  a  distance, 
and  there  let  the  poor  victim  die  or  recover  according  as 
Providence  decreed. 

After  Dr.  Aspinwall's  army  experience  he  conceived 
the  idea  of  establishing  on  his  own  premises  a  hospital, 
to  which  patients  should  be  received  and  where  they 
should  be  inoculated,  and  stay  during  their  sickness  un- 
der his  personal  attention  and  that  of  experienced  nurses. 
Accordingly,  he  erected  a  building  for  that  purpose  upon 
his  farm,  and  patients  began  to  come.  He  was  very  suc- 
cessful in  his  treatment,  and  the  fame  of  his  hospital  so 
extended  that  he  soon  had  to  build  another,  and  after- 
ward still  a  third.  One  of  these  buildings  was  situated 
about  where  Perry  Street  joins  Aspinwall  Avenue,  the 
others  not  far  from  Longwood  Station  on  the  left  from 
Aspinwall  Avenue  near  the  marsh.  Of  course  some  of 
the  patients  died,  and  there  are  Brookline  people  buried 
in  the  marshes,  as  well  as  others  who  came  from  a  dis- 

6 


7-4  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

tance,  who  perished  under  the  horrible  scourge  in  spite 
of  the  skill  of  their  wise  doctor. 

But  the  majority  recovered  and  went  to  their  homes 
gratefully  rejoicing.  One  of  our  oldest  inhabitants  re- 
members being  in  this  hospital  for  treatment  almost 
eighty  years  ago,  and  retains  a  more  distinct  recollection 
of  trying  to  drown  a  squirrel  by  turning  water  into  a  hol- 
low stump  where  he  had  hidden,  than  he  does  of  the 
small-pox. 

One  can  imagine  something  of  the  feelings  with  which 
an  adult  patient  must  have  entered  the  fearful  portals 
of  this  institution,  and  the  strength  of  nerve  it  must  have 
taken  to  sit  down  and  calmly  receive  into  the  system  the 
virus  which  must  mean  suffering  in  a  most  loathsome 
form,  and  might  mean  death.  Yet  parents  sent  there 
whole  families  of  children,  of  whom  some  returned  to 
them,  and  some,  alas  !  never  came. 

But  a  new  order  of  things  was  about  to  be  established. 
Vaccination,  as  a  means  of  prevention  of  the  dreaded  dis- 
ease, was  first  introduced  in  this  country  by  Dr.  Water- 
house,  of  Cambridge,  about  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century.  Dr.  Aspinwall  had  then  been  devoted  to  the 
treatment  of  the  disease  by  inoculation,  and  had  spent 
much  money,  no  doubt,  in  building  and  fitting  up  his  hos- 
pitals. 

Dr.  Waterhouse  invited  all  the  physicians  of  Boston 
and  vicinity  to  see  the  first  cases  of  vaccination  ever  prac- 
ticed in  the  United  States.  Of  course  it  was  a  matter  of 
vital  interest  to  Dr.  Aspinwall,  and  he  gave  it  the  most 
keen  and  critical  examination.  He  took  home  a  portion 
of  the  virus,  tested  it  in  the  most  thorough  manner,  and 
with  Dr.  Waterhouse's  consent  took  to  his  hospital,  some 
little  time  after,  all  of  Dr.  W.'s  family  who  had  been 
vaccinated  and  there  tested  the  genuineness  of  the  new 
treatment,  "to  the  verge  of  rigid  experiment." 


I 
THE   FAITHFUL   PHYSICIAN.  75 

He  satisfied  himself  of  the  value  of  the  new  discovery, 
and  with  generous  and  noble  spirit  he  said  to  Dr.  Water- 
house  and  others,  "this  new  inoculation  of  yours  is  no 
sham.  As  a  man  of  humanity,  I  rejoice  in  it  though  it 
will  take  from  me  a  handsome  annual  income."  Dr. 
Waterhouse  gave  this  voluntary  testimony  to  the  honor- 
able course  pursued  by  Dr.  Aspinwall  in  this  matter,  in 
a  paper  published  in  the  "  Medical  Intelligencer." 

Dr.  Thacher  also,  in  writing  of  him  on  this  subject, 
calls  him  "  an  honest  man  and  a  faithful  physician."  Had 
he,  for  selfish  motives,  chosen  to  throw  the  weight  of  his 
strong  influence  against  vaccination,  it  would  doubtless 
have  affected  public  opinion  for  several  years,  and  brought 
him  further  profit.  As  it  was,  in  less  than  two  years  he 
took  down  his  hospitals. 

The  talents  and  energy  which  distinguished  Dr.  Aspin- 
Avall  were  by  no  means  confined  to  the  profession  to  which 
his  life  was  devoted.  He  was  a  man  of  culture  and  sa- 
gacity and  practical  wisdom,  ably  fitted  to  be  a  legislator, 
and  as  such  he  represented  Brookline  in  the  State  Legis- 
lature, was  three  times  chosen  Senator  for  Norfolk  Coun- 
ty, was  a  member  of  the  Council  and  a  Justice  of  the 
Peace. 

In  the  year  1803  the  Doctor  built  the  fine  large  house 
upon  the  hill,  now  occupied  by  his  grandson,  and  re- 
moved thither.  A  year  or  two  ago  a  carpenter  making 
repairs,  had  occasion  to  remove  some  clapboards  or  shin- 
gles, and  in  the  boards  thus  uncovered,  he  noticed  names 
of  several  persons,  with  dates  in  the  last  century,  and 
residence  in  distant  States,  deeply  cut  in  the  wood.  On 
making  inquiry  respecting  them  he  learned  that  the  Doc- 
tor had  used  more  or  less  of  the  timber  and  boards  of  the 
hospital  in  constructing  his  house,  and  here  were  the 
autographs  of  his  patients.  Poor  fellows  !  Did  they  re- 


76  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BKOOKLINE. 

cover  and  return  to  the  distant  homes  from  which  they 
came,  lighter  hearted  for  having  met  the  foe  and  con- 
quered, or  do  they  sleep  in  unknown  and  unmarked 
graves,  in  the  Brookline  marshes  ?  Who  can  tell  ? 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Doctor  had  but  one 
eye  for  all  his  study  and  writing,  and  of  the  latter  there 
is  abundant  evidence  of  the  unflagging  industry  of  more 
than  half  a  century.  In  his  later  years  a  cataract  began 
to  form  over  the  one  precious  eye,  and  fearing  that  it  too 
would  become  useless,  he  submitted  to  a  surgical  opera- 
tion by  a  distinguished  Professor  of  more  than  one  medi- 
cal school.  The  operation  was  a  failure,  and  sight  was 
destroyed  forever. 

With  heroic  philosophy  and  Christian  resignation  the 
brave  old  man  bore  up  under  this  great  affliction,  and 
devoted  himself  to  thought  and  reflection  and  "  prepara- 
tion for  death,"  as  he  expressed  it.  He  had  always  been 
religious,  and  had  religiously  brought  up  his  family ;  his 
memorandum  book  gives  evidence  of  his  daily  desire  in 
the  midst  of  the  activities  of  his  most  crowded  and  busy 
years,  to  live  in  fidelity  to  God  and  man.  And  what 
better  preparation  than  such  a  life  could  any  man  make 
for  entrance  upon  a  higher  and  holier  one  ?  Yet  this 
brief  pause  on  the  threshold  of  the  great  unknown,  he 
consecrates  to  calm  reflection  and  faith  and  trust,  and 
closing  his  sightless  eyes  upon  the  things  of  earth,  at  the 
end  of  almost  eighty  years  he  passed  away,  let  us  hope 
where  all  "  shall  see  eye  to  eye,"  and  know  even  as  they 
are  known.  He  died  April  16,  1823,  and  was  buried  in 
Brookline  cemetery.* 

The  beautiful  oriel  window  in  the  chancel  at  St.  Paul's 

*  We  are  indebted  to  our  townsman,  \Vm.  Aspinwall,  Esq.,  for  papers  contain- 
ing full  and  valuable  information  respecting  his  honored  ancestors,  and  from 
them  have  drawn  materials  for  this  brief  sketch. 


COL.    THOMAS   ASPINWALL.  77 

Church,  Aspinwall  Avenue,  was  placed  there  as  a  memo- 
rial by  his  children,  and  contains  an  inscription  in  Latin, 
on  the  lower  margin. 

DR.  WILLIAM  ASPINWALL,  JE.,  COL.  THOMAS  ASPINWALL. 

The  eldest  son  of  Dr.  Aspinwall  who  lived  to  man- 
hood inherited  his  name,  studied  and  graduated  at  Har- 
vard College,  and  having  prepared  himself  to  succeed 
his  father  in  his  profession,  settled  in  Brookline,  and 
already  had  begun  to  practice,  when  his  father's  blindness 
caused  him  to  retire  from  professional  life  altogether. 

But  the  blind  father,  with  the  infirmities  of  age  upon 
him,  outlived  the  vigorous  young  son,  who  died  in  April, 
1818,  at  the  age  of  thirty-four.  The  next  son,  Thomas, 
who  was  also  a  graduate  of  Harvard,  and  had  been  ad- 
mitted to  the  bar,  found  the  whole  career  of  life  changed 
for  him,  by  the  second  war  with  England. 

During  that  war  he  held  a  colonel's  commission  and 
served  the  country  gallantly  and  faithfully  ;  was  in  the 
battle  at  Sackett's  Harbor  in  1813,  commanded  Scott's 
Brigade  in  the  defense  of  Fort  Erie,  in  August,  1814, 
and  on  the  17th  of  September  of  the  same  year  he  led 
Miller's  column  in  the  storming  of  the  British  entrench- 
ments. 

This  engagement  cost  him  the  loss  of  his  left  arm. 

In  June  of  the  following  year,  Colonel  Aspinwall  was 
appointed  U.  S.  Consul  at  London,  which  important 
office  he  held  with  great  honor  to  himself  and  the  coun- 
try which  he  represented  for  thirty-seven  years,  and  was 
then  removed ;  not  for  any  fault  or  failure  or  mistake, 
but  simply  because  it  pleased  Franklin  Pierce,  then  the 
President  of  the  United  States,  to  fill  that  important 
situation  with  one  of  his  own  political  supporters. 

This  event  caused  much  indignant  comment  on  both 


78  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NK. 

sides  of  the  ocean,  and  the  result  was  doubtless  to  cause 
fresh  disgust  with  that  miserable  theory  of  "  rotation  in 
office,"  which  has  so  often  been  unfortunately  illustrated 
by  the  placing  of  inexperienced  men  in  important  situ- 
ations under  Government. 

When  Colonel  Aspinwall  left  England,  the  Barings, 
the  Rothschilds,  George  Peabody,  and  other  distinguished 
individuals  in  London,  presented  him  with  an  unusually 
magnificent  service  of  plate,  accompanied  by  a  letter 
bearing  most  cordial  and  grateful  testimony  of  respect 
and  appreciation. 

The  Colonel  returned  to  his  native  town,  and  after 
spending  some  time  here,  removed  to  Boston,  where  he 
still  lives,  and  although  more  than  eighty-four  years  of 
age,  is  vigorously  at  work  daily  on  literary  matters. 

The  venerable  Colonel  Thomas  Aspinwall  is  the  only 
surviving  child  of  Dr.  Aspinwall.  His  son  Augustus, 
who  succeeded  him  in  the  occupancy  of  the  mansion  house 
on  the  hill,  has  so  recently  passed  away  that  his  erect 
figure  and  handsome  countenance  are  still  fresh  in  the 
memory  of  all  who  knew  him,  and  shared  in  the  admira- 
tion of  the  exquisite  roses  for  which  he  made  his  fine 
estate  justly  celebrated. 

The  ancient  homestead  in  Aspinwall  Avenue  was 
leased  for  many  years  after  the  Doctor  ceased  to  occupy 
it.  Mr.  Daniel  Perry  was  a  tenant  there  for  many  years, 
and  both  himself  and  wife  died  there  in  old  age. 

The  house  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Melcher  was  built 
more  than  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  by  Dr.  Aspin- 
wall's  father,  no  doubt  for  the  use  of  some  of  his  children, 
and  was  occupied  by  various  members  of  the  family. 

It  was  afterwards  let  for  some  years  to  Mr.  Peter 
Banner,  who  built  the  old  Unitarian  Church  (the  second 
edifice)  in  1805.  After  him,  many  other  tenants  succes- 


THE   OLD   ASPINWALL   ELM.  79 

sively  occupied  the  house  till  Colonel  Aspinwall  sold  it 
to  its  present  owner. 

The  magnificent  elm  which  overshadowed  the  old 
house,  and  of  which  now  only  a  portion  of  the  trunk  re- 
mains, was  said  to  have  been  set  out  in  1656.  This 
statement  may  be  found  in  the  "  North  American  Re- 
view," for  July,  1844,  but  Rev.  John  Pierce,  D.  D.,  from 
whom  any  native  of  Brookline  who  should  dare  to  differ 
on  dates  would  be  audacious  indeed,  stated  that  the  "  tra- 
dition of  the  oldest  and  best  informed  inhabitants  has 
uniformly  been  that  it  was  set  out  by  Deacon  Samuel 
Clark  "  (great-great-grandfather  of  the  present  Samuel 
Clark  of  Walnut  Street,)  who  served  his  boyhood  in  the 
Aspinwall  family,  which,  if  true,  would  probably  fix  the 
date  of  the  setting  out  of  the  tree,  about  1700.  About 
thirty  years  ago  nearly  half  the  tree  fell,  under  its  great 
weight  of  leaves,  and  four  or  five  years  since  the  rest  of 
it  followed,  breaking  a  hole  through  the  roof  of  the  house. 

Two  splendid  elms  from  the  seed  of  this  ancient  one 
now  grow,  one  near  the  front  of  the  old  house,  the  other 
close  to  the  Avenue.  May  no  ruthless  "  widening " 
hasten  their  destruction  for  a  century  to  come. 

The  ancient  elm  measured  twenty-six  feet  in  circum- 
ference near  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  sixteen  feet 
eight  inches  at  five  feet  from  the  surface. 

One  cannot  but  look  regretfully  upon  the  fast  hasten- 
ing ruin  of  a  house  which  for  two  hundred  and  eleven 
years  has  borne  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  annals  of  our 
town,  and  has  sheltered  under  its  low  roof  so  many  dis- 
tinguished individuals.  For  long  ago 

"  In  that  mansion  used  to  be 
Free-hearted  Hospitality  ; 
His  great  fires  up  the  chimney  roared, 
The  stranger  feasted  at  his  board. 


80  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

There  groups  of  merry  children  played, 
There  youths  and  maidens  dreaming  strayed, 

From  that  chamber,  clothed  in  white, 
The  bride  came  forth  on  her  wedding  night, 
There  in  that  silent  room  below 
The  dead  lay  in  his  shroud  of  snow. 

All  are  scattered  now  and  fled, 

Some  are  married  and  some  are  dead;" 

and  of  those  who  once  frequented  it  there  are  none  to 
come  again. 

The  beautiful  grove  in  the  rear  of  the  farm  on  the  high 
ground  bordering  the  marsh,  though  nearly  obliterated,  is 
well  remembered  by  all  middle-aged  persons  who  grew 
up  in  Brookline,  as  a  great  resort  for  local  picnics.  The 
place  acquired  the  name  of  "  Perry's  Woods  "  for  several 
years  when  Farmer  Perry  was  the  lessee  ;  in  "  Perry's 
Woods  "  lovers  rambled  and  children  played  unmolested. 
The  long,  high,  green  ridge,  with  shade  trees  on  each  side 
whose  arches  met  overhead,  seemed  as  if  planned  for  a 
natural  dining  hall,  and  when  long  tables  were  spread 
there  with  white  cloths  and  ornamented  with  flowers,  and 
the  music  of  a  band  awoke  the  echoes,  it  was  a  most  at- 
tractive spot.  But  perhaps  nothing  was  looked  forward 
to  with  more  eager  anticipation  or  more  thoroughly  en- 
joyed than  an  annual  visit  to  the  grove,  in  an  informal 
manner,  by  the  teacher  and  pupils  of  the  old  Primary 
School  in  "  School-house  Lane." 

The  memory  of  the  race  from  the  upper  to  the  lower 
end  of  that  long  green  ridge,  —  the  great  swing  on  the 
oak,  the  game  of  "  Hunt  the  Squirrel  through  the  woods, 
I've  lost  him,  I've  found  him,"  how  we  all  remember  it 
still !  Most  of  us  have  been  hunting  our  squirrel  ever 
since  ;  some  have  lost  him,  and  a  few  have  found  him, 
and  some  tired  out  with  the  weary  chase  have  lain  down 
and  abandoned  it  forever. 


ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCH.  81 

ST.  PAUL'S  CHURCH,  ASPINWALL  AVENUE. 

This  beautiful  little  building  with  its  picturesque  sur- 
roundings, from  whatever  point  it  is  approached,  is  one 
of  the  pleasantest  objects  upon  which  the  eye  rests  in 
the  whole  vicinity.  Through  the  summer  the  dark  green 
clustering  vines  almost  conceal  the  walls,  and  in  autumn 
they  hang  out  their  flaming  banners  of  scarlet  and  crim- 
son, gracefully  festooning  porch  and  gable.  It  is  often 
a  pleasant  reminder  of  lovely  bits  of  English  scenery 
to  those  who  have  made  themselves  familiar  with  the 
pleasant  places  of  that  country. 

The  society  was  organized  in  1849,  and  prominent 
among  its  earliest  members  were  Messrs.  Eliakim  Littell, 
James  S.  Amory,  Augustus  Aspinwall,  William  Aspin- 
wall,  Harrison  Fay,  John  Shepherd,  Moses  B.  Williams, 
James  S.  Patten,  Theodore  Lyman,  Frederic  P.  Ladd, 
and  others.  On  the  second  Sunday  in  July  of  that  year, 
the  first  service  was  held  in  the  Town  Hall,  Rev.  Thomas 
M.  Clarke  (the  present  Bishop  of  Rhode  Island)  gen- 
erously volunteering  his  services  as  pastor  during  his 
vacation  of  that  summer. 

A  few  months  later,  during  which  the  society  had  been 
without  a  regular  incumbent,  it  was  decided  to  call  the 
Rev.  William  Horton,  of  Newburyport,  as  Rector.  That 
gentleman  accepted,  and  for  three  years,  during  which 
the  society  steadily  increased  in  numbers  and  prosperity, 
he  faithfully  discharged  his  parochial  and  ministerial 
duties.  In  the  fall  of  1850  it  was  decided  to  build  a 
substantial  church.  A  subscription  was  raised  for  the 
purpose.  Among  the  contributors  were  Messrs.  James  S. 
Amory,  Moses  B.  Williams,  John  S.  Wright,  Benjamin 
Howard,  Theodore  Lyman,  William  Appleton,  Augustus 
Aspinwall,  Harrison  Fay,  and  others.  The  two  gentle- 


82  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

men  last  named  were  the  largest  subscribers,  Mr.  Aspin- 
wall giving  $2,000,  and  the  land  now  belonging  to  the 
church,  at  that  time  worth  about  $1,500.  Mr.  Fay  gave 
85,000.  The  total  amount  subscribed  was  about  $12,000, 
which  was  sufficient  to  build  the  body  of  the  church  only, 
the  addition  of  the  tower  involving  a  further  outlay  of 
about  $13,000,  which  was  paid  equally  by  Messrs.  Aspin- 
wall  and  Fay.  T.  C.  Leeds,  of  Boston  (a  native  of 
Brookline)  gave  the  bell,  worth  nearly  $1,000.  The 
beautiful  memorial  window  in  the  chancel  was  presented 
by  the  Aspinwall  family,  the  rest  were  given  by  Mr. 
Fay.  Mr.  Augustus  Aspinwall  bequeathed  to  the  church 
in  his  will  several  pews  belonging  to  him  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  which  should  be 
applied  towards  the  building  of  a  parsonage. 

Richard  Upjohn,  Esq.,  of  New  York,  was  the  archi- 
tect, and  Messrs.  Aspinwall,  Fay,  and  M.  B.  Williams 
were  the  building  committee.  The  church  was  built 
with  remarkable  solidity  and  very  economically,  the 
whole  cost  not  exceeding  $26,000.  It  was  entirely  paid 
for  when  completed,  and  since  that  time  has  had  no  last- 
ing debt.  In  May,  1852,  Rev.  Mr.  Horton  resigned, 
and  Dr.  John  S.  Stone,  of  Brooklyn,  formerly  of  St. 
Paul's  Church,  Boston,  accepted  a  call  as  his  successor. 
The  church  was  formally  consecrated  in  December,  1852, 
and  Dr.  Stone  entered  upon  his  duties  as  Rector.  His 
eloquence  and  great  worth  are  well  known  and  fondly 
remembered  by  those  of  his  parishioners  who  survive 
his  pastorate,  as  well  as  by  many  others  in  this  town  who 
heard  and  knew  him. 

He  continued  here  for  ten  years,  and  resigned  in  the 
fall  of  1862,  to  accept  a  professorship  in  the  Episcopal 
Theological  Seminary,  at  Philadelphia.  After  an  inter- 
regnum of  a  few  months,  Rev.  Dr.  Francis  Wharton  of 


THE   OLD   SCHOOL-HOUSL.  83 

Kenyon  College,  Gambler,  Ohio,  was  installed  as  Rector, 
and  continued  until  the  summer  of  1869,  when  he  re- 
signed, and  was  succeeded  in  the  spring  of  1870  by  Rev. 
Wm.  "W.  Newton,  the  present  young  and  talented  Rector. 

During  Dr.  Stone's  ministry  (in  the  summer  of  1857) 
the  chapel  adjacent  to  the  church  was  built.  One  thou- 
sand dollars  was  contributed  towards  its  erection,  by  Mrs. 
Mary  Rogers,  of  Boston,  on  condition  that  it  should  con- 
tain a  mural  tablet  in  memory  of  her  daughter,  who  had 
died  in  Egypt  the  previous  year.  The  remainder  of 
the  sum  necessary  for  its  completion  (about  $4,000),  was 
raised  by  the  ladies  of  the  parish.  The  condition  an- 
nexed to  the  donation  of  Mrs.  Rogers  was  complied  with, 
and  the  chapel  has  on  its  western  wall  a  beautiful  marble 
tablet  with  a  tasteful  design  representing  Mary  sitting 
at  the  feet  of  the  Saviour,  under  which  is  the  line,  "  Mary 
sat  at  Jesus'  feet  and  heard  his  word,"  also  an  inscrip- 
tion commemorating  the  death  of  Mrs.  Rogers  and  her 
daughter. 

Prominent  among  the  past  members  of  the  society 
were  Colonel  Wilder  D wight  and  his  brother  Howard, 
and  Henry  V.  Stone,  a  son  of  the  former  Rector,  all  of 
whom  lost  their  lives  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

THE   OLD    SCHOOL-HOUSE   ON   SCHOOL   STREET. 

Leaving  Aspinwall  Avenue,  we  turn  aside  before  going 
further  up  Harvard  Street,  to  take  a  glance  at  the 
"  School-house  Lane,"  as  it  was  formerly  called,  —  now 
School  Street,  —  as  there  was  but  one  building  upon  it 
until  within  thirty  years,  and  that  was  the  school-house. 

The  lane  was  narrow,  not  much  more  than  a  cart  road, 
and  bordered  on  either  side  by  a  low  stone  wall  overhung 
by  trees,  and  on  the  east  side  by  a  thick,  natural  hedge 
of  barberry  bushes,  which  nearly  concealed  the  wall. 


84  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

A  school  was  kept  in  this  lane  from  a  very  early  period, 
probably  the  only  school  in  the  town  while  it  was  a  part 
of  Boston.  The  original  school-house  was  a  very  small 
and  low,  square,  hipped-roof  building,  on  the  spot  where 
the  Williams  block  of  houses  now  stands.  Some  of  the 
oldest  inhabitants  can  just  remember  it  as  a  mere  hovel 
going  to  ruin,  in  their  early  childhood. 

The  second  school-house  was  the  same  style  of  build- 
ing, a  little  larger,  and  stood  on  the  spot  now  forming 
the  corner  of  School  and  Prospect  streets.  There  is  a 
tradition  that  this  bit  of  ground  was  given  to.  the  town  for 
a  school-house  lot,  forever,  by  one  of  the  ancient  Davises. 

The  arrangements  in  and  about  this  ancient  edifice  of 
learning,  for  the  accommodation  of  teacher  and  pupils, 
would  hardly  satisfy  modern  tastes  and  requirements. 
On  each  side  of  an  alley  through  the  middle  of  the 
room,  the  seats  were  arranged  facing  the  alley,  like  seats 
in  a  street  car,  only  they  were  long,  narrow  benches, 
with  a  plank  in  front  upon  legs,  running  the  whole 
length  of  the  room  (except  a  space  for  admission  at  the 
ends),  and  this  plank  served  the  purpose  of  a  desk.  A 
sort  of  drawer  underneath  served  to  hold  the  books,  which 
were  not  numerous.  The  Bible,  the  Psalter,  the  Spell- 
ing-book, and  the  Arithmetic  being  all  that  were  used, 
and  not  all  those  at  once.  Perhaps  they  feared  softening 
of  the  brain.  The  teacher's  desk  was  in  the  left  hand 
corner  farthest  from  the  door,  and  the  right  hand  corner 
was  occupied  by  an  immense  fire-place  with  a  chimney 
to  match.  On  the  wall  the  clothing  was  hung. 

The  wood,  of  cord  length  and  often  unseasoned,  was 
deposited  outside  the  school-house,  and  autumnal  rains 
and  winter  snows  fell  unchecked  upon  it.  The  winter 
school,  taught  by  a  man,  used  to  begin  with  the  Monday 
after  Thanksgiving,  and  the  boys  took  turns,  week  by 


THE   SCHOOL.  85 

week,  in  sawing  and  splitting  the  wood  and  making  the 
fire.  Friction  matches  were  one  of  the  Jblessings  reserved 
for  modern  times,  so  the  luckless  wights  who  made  the 
fires  had  to  bring  live  coals  in  an  iron  skillet,  kept  for 
the  purpose,  from  "  Squire  Sharp's,"  the  nearest  neigh- 
bor, and  for  some  time  the  schoolmaster. 

On  one  occasion,  a  boy  who  lived  with  "  Parson  Jack- 
son," as  he  was  called  (the  predecessor  of  Dr.  Pierce), 
after  laboring  over  a  green  and  knotty  stump  without 
much  success,  hit  upon  the  bright  idea  of  blowing  it  up 
with  gunpowder. 

Accordingly  he  drilled  a  hole,  filled  it  with  powder, 
and  applied  the  fuse  or  tinder,  and  in  his  great  interest 
stood  close  by  to  watch  the  result  of  his  experiment. 
He  did  not  stand  there  long,  however,  and  a  lame  leg 
proved  to  him  convincingly  how  very  active  and  power- 
ful an  agent  gunpowder  will  become  under  the  influence 
of  fire,  even  in  a  green  stump. 

One  morning,  on  the  arrival  of  teacher  and  pupils,  the 
room  was  found  filled  with  the  densest  smoke.  Opening 
doors  and  windows  did  not  produce  much  effect ;  the 
chimney  could  not  be  persuaded  to  draw  that  day,  study 
was  impossible  and  school  was  dismissed.  An  investi- 
gation as  to  the  sudden  foulness  of  the  chimney  revealed 
the  fact  that  the  top  was  closely  covered  with  a  board, 
and  there  was  an  understanding  among  the  boys  that 
one  of  their  number  who  lived  with  Squire  Sharp  had 
thus  secured  them  the  holiday. 

For  many  years  the  town  appropriated  money  for  two 
terms  of  school  in  the  year,  three  or  four  months  each, 
in  summer  and  in  winter.  The  people  of  the  district 
then  contributed  somewhat  more,  that  a  few  weeks  might 
be  added  to  the  terms.  Thus  the  schools  were  kept 
nearly  as  many  weeks  in  the  year  as  at  present,  only  the 
vacations  occurred  in  the  comfortable  weather  of  fall  and 


86  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

spring  when  the  children  were  in  good  condition  to  study, 
and  through  the  whole  of  the  sweltering  dog-days,  teach- 
ers and  pupils  were  kept  at  their  tasks. 

"  Squire  Sharp,"  of  whom  further  mention  will  be 
made  hereafter,  wras  teacher  of  the  winter  school  several 
years,  as  was  also  Dr.  Aspinwall.  Three  teachers  by 
the  name  of  Allen  (not  brothers),  also  served  for  several 
winters.  One  of  them  was  afterwards  President  of 
Bowdoin  College,  Brunswick,  Me.,  if  our  information  is 
correct,  and  another  became  subsequently  a  Unitarian 
clergyman. 

Among  the  old  school-masters  was  one  who  at  times 
indulged  in  various  strange  freaks,  and  was  strongly  sus- 
pected of  stimulating  the  inner  man  too  largely  with 
doses  of  something  more  exciting  than  water.  About 
eleven  o'clock  every  day  he  retired  to  the  entry,  and  one 
day  as  he  returned  through  the  alley,  a  little  fellow  raised 
his  hand  and  called  out,  "  Master  !  master  !  your  bottle  's 
sticking  out  of  your  pocket !  "  It  was  too  true  ;  not 
only  was  the  bottle  out  but  the  truth  was  out  also,  and 
the  story  flew  about  town. 

It  came  to  the  ears  of  the  School  Committee,  who  were 
also  the  Selectmen  at  that  time,  and  they  decided  that 
it  was  best  to  call  on  the  master  in  a  body  (of  three) 
and  remonstrate  upon  the  errors  of  his  ways.  Accord- 
ingly that  formidable  trio  presented  themselves  on  a 
certain  evening  at  the  master's  boarding  place  for  an 
interview. 

Instantly  on  their  arrival  the  master  suspected  the 
reason  of  this  surprise  party,  and  quietly  asked  his  host 
to  prepare  a  bowl  of  punch  and  bring  it  in  immediately. 
In  the  meantime  he  entertained  his  guests  most  cordially 
and  socially,  calling  on  all  his  resources  of  wit  and  anec- 
dote. Presently  the  punch  came  in  and  was  passed 
around  with  most  cheerful  liberality,  the  master  talking 


OLD-TIME   TEACHERS.  87 

on  all  the  while,  and  among  the  rest  of  his  good  stories 
he  told  of  a  schoolmaster,  a  friend  of  his,  who  was  sus- 
pected of  indulging  too  much  in  the  use  of  liquors,  and 
was  actually  called  upon  by  his  committee  for  the  pur- 
pose of  reprimanding  him,  but  he  treated  them  so  well 
with  excellent  punch  that  they  went  away  without  saying 
a  word  ! 

The  baffled  Committee  knowing  too  well  that  the  wily 
schoolmaster  had  the  advantage,  as  they  had  already 
each  taken  a  draught,  actually  retired  from  the  field,  and 
left  him  the  victor,  and  he  finished  the  winter  school 
unrebuked  for  either  his  intemperance  or  his  impudence, 
and  we  have  been  informed  was  even  employed  again. 

Among  the  female  teachers  of  those  days  were  two 
sisters,  Nabby  and  Joanna  Jordan,  who  lived  with  their 
parents  in  the  little  house  which  we  described  as  formerly 
standing  in  the  meadow  about  where  the  upper  end  of 
White  Place  now  is.  Many  good  people  now  far  ad- 
vanced in  life,  learned  their  A,  B,  C,  in  that  little  old 
building  of  Miss  Nabby  or  Miss  Joanna.  Another  of 
the  female  teachers,  for  many  successive  years,  was  Miss 
Lucy  Aspinwall.  A  little  bit  of  the  economy  of  those 
old  times  is  preserved  to  extravagant  moderns  in  an 
anecdote  of  this  lady's  habits.  A  lady,  who  attended 
her  school  more  than  seventy-five  years  ago,  remembers 
that  her  old  teacher  used  to  wear  a  long  dress  to  school 
and  take  it  off  and  hang  it  up,  on  her  arrival  there,  and 
put  on  a  short,  loose  gown  and  skirt,  to  keep  school  in. 
The  one  long  dress  thus  carefully  preserved  did  service 
a  long  time.  It  will  be  remembered  that  this  economical 
teacher  was  from  one  of  the  first  families  in  town.  What 
would  our  ancestors  have  thought  if  they  could  have 
foreseen  a  Saratoga  trunk,  or  a  modern  dressmaker's 
bill? 


88  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINK. 

Early  in  the  present  century  the  old  school-house  be- 
ing seriously  dilapidated,  at  town  meeting  an  appropria- 
tion was  asked  for  to  repair  it.  On  examination  it  was 
found  to  be  so  unsound  that  the  best  judges  recommended 
the  erection  of  a  new  building. 

Then  out  came  the  conservatives  to  the  battle,  for  they 
never  lack  a  champion  or  a  reserve  force.  All  the  an- 
cient and  time-honored  arguments  so  familiar  to  modern 
ears  were  set  in  array.  The  present  building  could  be 
u  fixed  up  "  for  a  small  sum  and  answer  its  purpose  for 
years  to  come.  It  would  increase  the  taxes,  and  here 
came  in  the  cry  of  the  veterans  who  had  plenty  of  money 
but  no  children  ;  and  so  on,  ad  infinitum.  But  the  men 
who  believe  that  nothing  is  economical  which  stints  edu- 
cation carried  the  day  so  far  as  to  secure  an  appropriation 
of  twelve  hundred  dollars  for  a  new  building.  This  much 
conceded,  Mr.  Thomas  Griggs  (now  the  Deacon),  who 
was  then  one  of  the  School  Committee,  represented  to 
the  assembled  wisdom  of  the  town  the  better  policy  and 
economy  of  adding  a  few  hundred  dollars  more  and  mak- 
ing the  building  two  stories  high.  Audacity,  indeed ! 
Had  they  not  just  voted  away  the  town's  money  with  un- 
paralleled extravagance,  twelve  hundred  dollars  to  build 
a  new  school-house  when  a  respectable  minority  thought 
the  old  one  might  do  for  a  dozen  years  to  come,  and  now 
to  be  asked  to  build  it  two  stories  high  !  Oliver  Twist's 
petition  for  "  more  "  did  not  evoke  more  surprise.  Two 
stories  high  indeed  !  and  where  were  the  children  coming 
from  to  fill  it  ?  No  !  the  matter  was  settled,  so  far  as  the 
town  was  concerned,  twelve  hundred  dollars  and  not  a 
cent  more. 

But  the  Deacon,  nothing  daunted,  called  a  meeting  of 
the  inhabitants  of  the  district,  and  urged  the  matter  upon 
them,  proposing  that  they  should  raise  a  few  hundreds 


THE   NEW   SCHOOL-HOUSE.  89 

more,  and  put  on  the  second  story.  He  drew  up  a  paper 
and  began  the  subscription  list  there,  and  in  a  few  days 
four  hundred  dollars  were  subscribed.  It  was  sorely  op- 
posed by  some  who  were  well  able  to  give,  and  one  man 
who  had  several  children  to  send  to  school  absolutely  re- 
fused to  give  a  cent.  Finding,  however,  that  the  four 
hundred  was  nearly  subscribed  and  the  work  would  be 
done,  he  finally  handed  in  ten  dollars. 

So  the  school-house  was  built  two  stories  high  with  a 
place  for  clothing  in  the  entry,  and  a  little  room  for  fuel 
in  the  rear  of  each  room.  A  platform  ran  across  the  end 
on  which  was  the  teacher's  desk,  opposite  to  the  door. 
The  seats  were  arranged  to  face  the  teacher,  six  in  a  row, 
the  desks  being  all  under  the  same  board  for  one  row, 
but  separated  inside  from  one  another.  A  square  box 
stove  for  wood  heated  each  room.  On  each  end  of  the 
platform  were  three  more  seats,  and  in  front  of  the  desks 
a  narrow  board  was  placed  a  few  inches  from  the  floor  for 
a  seat  for  the  little  children.  Who  that  ever  sat  upon 
those  seats  will  forget  their  hardness  ?  We  have  heard 
mention  made  of  "  the  soft  side  of  a  plank."  That  there 
was  no  soft  side  to  those  planks  none  who  sat  there  will 
deny  their  testimony.  Poor  little  urchins  of  four  years 
and  upwards  sat  there  from  nine  to  twelve  in  the  fore- 
noon, and  from  one  till  four  in  the  afternoon,  summer 
and  winter,  to  read  the  alphabet  once  through  from  A  to 
Z,  each  half-day,  with  five  minutes  recess  only  in  each 
session,  and  a  smart  application  of  the  rattan  or  ruler  if 
they  turned  round  or  whispered. 

What  would  some  of  the  tender  mammas  of  present 
times  think  of  this  course  for  their  darlings,  who  imagine 
the  present  regime  of  the  public  schools  "  hard,"  for  chil- 
dren of  six  or  seven  years  to  stay  under,  five  hours  a  day, 
divided  by  two  recesses  of  fifteen  minutes  each,  and  with 

7 


90  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

all  the  resources  of  slates,  picture  books,  singing,  and  an 
endless  variety  of  pleasant  exercises  in  reciting.  But  un- 
reasonable parents  were  not  unknown  fifty  years  ago. 
For  some  time  a  Miss  Wheelock  was  teacher  of  the 
school,  and  among  the  pupils  was  a  somewhat  wayward 
girl,  the  child  of  a  woman  known  as  "  Mother  Marean," 
who  used  to  go  out  by  the  day  washing.  It  became 
necessary  for  Miss  Wheelock  to  punish  this  pupil  one 
day,  and  she  did  so,  not  unreasonably  however,  but  the 
maternal  wrath  was  excited.  "  Mother  Marean  "  was 
quite  sure  her  child  was  punished  only  because  she  was 
the  washerwoman's  daughter,  and  thereupon  she  pro- 
ceeded to  the  neighborhood  of  the  school-house,  and 
when  school  was  out  pounced  upon  the  unsuspecting 
teacher  as  she  turned  the  corner  of  the  street  and 
tumbled  her  into  the  brook,  administering  at  the  same 
time  a  smart  castigation  with  a  bunch  of  nettles  on  face 
and  neck,  an  exploit  for  which  she  was  tried,  convicted, 
and  served  a  term  in  Dedham  jail. 

It  was  not  long  before  it  was  found  necessary  to  oc- 
cupy both  school-rooms  in  the  winter,  as  the  farmers' 
boys  attended  school  then,  under  the  master,  and  the 
girls  and  young  children  were  numerous  enough  to  need 
the  female  teacher  the  year  round. 

There  were  abundant  facilities  for  amusement  about 
the  vicinity  of  the  old  school-house  both  in  summer  and 
winter.  \Ve  have  alluded  above  to  the  shady  brook  at 
the  entrance  to  Aspinwall  Avenue,  which  was  a  favorite 
place  for  the  children  to  play.  Besides  this  the  open 
brook  on  the  south  side  of  Harvard  Street,  which  came 
out  from  under  the  low  stone  wall  and  spread  itself  out 
over  a  shallow  pebbly  bottom  before  it  made  the  dark 
plunge  under  the  road,  was  always  a  safe  and  pleasant 
place  for  those  who  loved  to  paddle  in  its  waters.  This 


"  THE   LONG   COAST."  91 

was  where  the  unfortunate  teacher  took  her  involuntary 
bath. 

Then  under  the  barberry  bushes,  near  by,  were  cosy 
little  nooks  where  the  girls  made  themselves  happy  with 
dolls  and  bits  of  broken  china  or  glass,  and  very  proud 
were  those  who  could  bring  small  pieces  of  board  and 
bright  squares  of  carpeting  to  cover  them,  for  seats  in 
these  play-houses.  Of  course  ball,  hoops,  jump-ropes, 
and  kites  were  as  popular  then  as  now,  but  these  other 
amusements  filled  up  the  intervals. 

But  the  great  source  of  winter  amusements  was  "  the 
long  coast."  The  hill,  east  and  south  of  the  school-house, 
extended  to  a  point  about  half  way  between  the  pres- 
ent High  and  Grammar  school-houses,  and  the  Public 
Library ;  and  was  about  the  height  of  the  roof  of  the 
Grammar  school-house.  From  that  high  ridge  it  sloped 
gradually  down  close  to  the  school-house  and  then  came 
a  sudden  depression  which  the  boys  called  "  the  jounce." 
This  slope  formed  the  long  coast,  and  the  new  impetus 
given  by  "  the  jounce,"  sent  the  sleds  to  the  corner  of 
Harvard  Street.  Here  the  wall  and  the  bushes  pre- 
vented further  progress,  as  one  of  our  young  men,  if  not 
more,  probably  remembers,  having  tried  the  calibre  of 
that  wall  with  his  head,  seriously  to  the  damage  of  the 
latter. 

Below  the  jounce,  on  the  right  of  the  coast,  was  a  deep 
hollow,  which  contained  water  enough  to  be  called  "  the 
pond,"  the  greater  part  of  the  year,  and  when  the  spring 
rains  and  snows  melting  from  the  hill  filled  up  the  pond 
till  it  was  level  with  Harvard  Street,  all  sorts  of  rafts  were 
improvised  by  the  boys,  and  merry  times  were  had  poling 
about  over  its  surface.  By  varying  the  course  of  the  sleds 
a  little  they  could  be  sent  shooting  across  the  icy  surface 
in  winter. 


92  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

In  the  hottest  part  of  summer  the  bottom  of  this  hol- 
low was  about  dry,  and  covered  with  great  bunches  of 
rushes.  In  our  childhood,  in  hunting  about  among  the 
rushes  one  day,  we  noticed  a  smoothly-rounded  surface 
just  above  the  soil  between  the  bunches  in  one  spot,  — 
something  hard,  which  did  not  seem  to  be  a  stone.  By 
dint  of  considerable  digging  with  a  stick,  it  finally  was 
thrown  up  and  proved  to  be  a  six-pound  cannon  ball,  well 
rusted.  We  carried  it  home  with  nearly  as  much  rever- 
ence as  we  would  have  carried  the  bones  of  Washington, 
not  doubting  our  treasure  was  a  Revolutionary  cannon- 
ball  from  old  Fort  Sewall,  but  were  sadly  disenchanted 
on  learning  that  the  location  would  have  made  it  impos- 
sible, and  our  venerable  relic  was  thenceforth  old  iron, 
"  only  that  and  nothing  more." 

In  front  of  the  old  school-house  and  just  where  Pros- 
pect Street  slopes  downward  toward  School  Street,  was 
"  the  short  coast,"  only  it  was  much  steeper  than  the 
present  grade,  and  came  out  between  posts  where  the 
rails  had  been  removed.  This  was  much  frequented  by 
the  smaller  children.  Opposite  the  school-house,  just 
across  the  road,  there  stood  behind  a  low  wall  a  russet 
apple  tree  which  spread  its  low  branches  wide  and  made 
a  good  shade.  Here  the  hard  green  apples  were  pounded 
on  the  wall  till  the  juice  flowed,  when  they  were  pro- 
nounced "  mellow,"  and  eaten  with  appetites  such  as  are 
seldom  brought  to  the  more  savory  viands  of  later  years. 

But  near  the  lower  end  of  the  street,  on  the  west  side, 
there  stood  close  to  the  wall,  on  the  same  field,  two  large 
trees  which  bore  tiny  red  sweet  apples.  The  late  Mr. 
Bartlett  carried  on  this  farm  for  many  years,  and  always 
allowed  the  children  all  the  fruit  they  could  get  from  these 
trees,  and  lucky  was  the  boy  or  girl  who  arrived  first  in 
the  morning  and  secured  "the  lion's  share"  of  the  spoils 


"  THE  MASTER'S  SCHOOL."  93 

and  then  practiced  munificence  or  meanness  when  the  rest 
came,  as  the  natural  disposition  prompted. 

Water  for  the  use  of  the  school  was  brought  twice  a 
day  from  Mr.  HalFs,  at  the  corner  of  School  and  Wash- 
ington streets.  In  the  large  open  shed  to  this  house  was 
the  pump,  and  few  if  any  children  ever  passed  without 
stopping  for  a  "  drink  of  water  ; "  real  thirst  had  little  to 
do  with  it  we  imagine. 

A  pleasant  excitement  was  occasionally  created  in  the 
school-room  by  the  downfall  of  the  entire  length  of  stove- 
pipe, with  a  crash  and  a  dust,  only  second  to  an  earth- 
quake, to  childish  imaginations.  Then  Mr.  Hall  was  sent 
for  to  put  it  up  again,  and  it  was  quite  delightful  either 
to  sit  and  watch  the  process,  or  be  sent  out  to  play  while 
it  was  going  on.  Anything  was  a  godsend  which  broke 
up  the  routine  and  monotony. 

In  winter,  when  "the  master's  school"  was  kept  down 
stairs,  it  was  a  great  pleasure  to  the  pupils  of  the  upper 
school  to  go  down  occasionally  to  hear  "  the  great  boys  " 
declaim,  and  the  rounded  periods  of  grand  oratory,  from 
Cicero  to  Patrick  Henry  and  Edward  Everett  were  rolled 
out  and  sent  the  blood  thrilling  through  childish  veins  as 
the  studied  elegance  of  few  orators  or  actors  since  has 
caused  it  to  thrill.  They  were  admired,  those  young  ora- 
tors, in  the  school-room  by  their  youthful  audience,  but 
how  they  were  feared  when  out  from  under  the  master's 
eye,  because  they  wore  long  blue  frocks,  had  stentorian 
voices,  and  kicked  foot-ball  furiously.  There  were  many 
changes  of  masters,  a  new  one  being  hired  almost  every 
winter.  What  would  be  thought  in  the  present  days  of 
school  courtesy,  of  a  teacher  who  should  throw  an  open 
knife  across  the  school-room  at  a  disorderly  pupil,  or 
launch  a  mahogany  ruler  at  another,  which  striking  upon 
a  desk  should  split,  and  inflict  so  serious  a  wound  upon 


94  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

the  victim  that  a  strong  boy  should  faint  at  the  sight  ? 
Yet  such  events  as  these  have  occurred  within  thirty  years 
in  this  school-house,  and  the  teacher  continued  his  school 
through  the  winter,  only  being  advised  to  slightly  modify 
his  methods  of  discipline.  The  rattan  and  the  cane  were 
in  daily  and  almost  hourly  use,  but  the  schools  were  far 
less  quiet  and  orderly  than  at  present. 

There  was  no  teacher  so  thoroughly  identified  with  the 
building  as  Miss  Catherine,  daughter  of  Charles  Stearns, 
Sen.,  of  this  town,  who  taught  the  year  round  for  twenty- 
five  years.  In  all  this  time  she  never  lost  a  day  by  ill- 
ness. The  schools  were  of  course  ungraded  in  her  time, 
and  the  pupils  were  from  four  years  old  upwards,  as  long 
as  they  chose  to  attend.  The  amount  of  real  work,  hard 
work,  done  in  this  school  seems  marvelous.  There  were 
from  fifty  to  sixty  pupils  during  the  several  years  of  the 
writer's  familiarity  with  it,  and  there  were  four  classes  in 
reading  and  spelling  besides  "  the  little  children." 

Written  Arithmetic  was  taught  as  far  as  simple  inter- 
est. Mental  Arithmetic,  Grammar,  Geography,  History 
of  the  United  States,  Goodrich's  Universal  History,  Nat- 
ural Philosophy,  Roman  Antiquities  and  Mythology, 
Blake's  Astronomy,  Composition,  Map-drawing,  and 
Writing,  each  received  attention,  and  there  was  no  lack 
of  thorough  reviewing.  These  studies  were  not  all  pre- 
scribed by  the  School  Committee,  but  great  freedom  of 
choice  was  left  to  the  teacher  and  first  class. 

The  elder  pupils  often  rendered  the  teacher  assistance 
in  instructing  the  younger  ones.  Besides  all  this,  needle- 
work was  allowed,  and  Miss  Stearns  often  fitted  her  pupils' 
work  out  of  school  hours,  this  being  wholly  gratuitous 
service.  After  the  school  had  above  sixty  regular  pupils 
Miss  Emily  Reed  was  appointed  assistant  to  Miss  Stearns. 
Soon  after,  she  was  appointed  principal  in  another  school, 


REV.    DR.    PIERCE.  95 

and  for  thirty  years  gave  this  town  her  best  energies. 
Both  these  ladies  were  conscientious  and  laborious  teach- 
ers, yet  for  many  years  the  highest  price  paid  them  was 
but  two  dollars  and  a  half  a  week. 

During  a  period  of  many  years,  there  was  a  Prudential 
Committee,  but  the  entire  management  of  literary  affairs 
connected  with  the  schools  devolved  upon  Rev.  Dr.  Pierce, 
the  minister  of  the  First  Parish  for  fifty  years. 

Rev.  Mr.  Shailer  of  the  Baptist  Church  was  also  active 
in  school  matters  during  the  entire  period  of  his  residence 
in  the  town,  but  Dr.  Pierce  being  many  years  his  senior, 
was  always  authority  in  all  open  questions,  and  for  years 
was  the  only  active  committee  man.  He  it  was  who 
visited  the  schools,  examined  the  pupils  in  their  studies, 
and  made  such  suggestions  as  were  deemed  expedient. 

His  visits  were  received  with  great  delight  by  most  of 
the  pupils,  mingled  with  a  sense  of  awe,  and  a  great  de- 
sire to  please.  What  a  hush  fell  upon  the  buzzing  and 
restless  school  when  his  step  wras  heard  ascending  the 
school-house  stairs.  He  rapped  upon  the  door  with  the 
head  of  his  cane,  and  as  the  teacher  opened  the  door  the 
pupils  were  expected  to  rise,  and  remain  standing  while 
the  venerable  gentleman  walked  up  the  aisle  to  the  plat- 
form, set  his  cane  in  one  corner,  hung  his  hat  upon  the 
top  of  it,  and  seated  himself  at  the  teacher's  desk.  We 
said  venerable,  for  Dr.  Pierce  was  venerable  long  before 
he  was  old.  His  snow-white  hair  and  his  dignity  of  man- 
ner impressed  even  the  most  careless,  yet  he  was  never 
feared  by  the  children,  as  fault-finders  are  feared,  though 
he  was  a  good  critic. 

How  he  puzzled  the  grammar  class  with  all  sorts  of  in- 
tricacies, and  how  delighted  he  was  when  we  could  man- 
age the  knotty  passages  in  parsing  "  Thompson's  Sea- 
sons." How  he  brought  forth  an  inexhaustible  series  of 


96  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

hard  words  for  the  spelling  classes  from  his  wonderful 
memory,  and  delighted  in  confronting  us  with  some  jaw- 
breaking  proper  name  from  the  Old  Testament.  He 
capped  the  climax  one  day  by  giving  out  to  the  first  class, 
"Honorificabilitudinitatibusque."  To  his  astonishment 
one  pupil  had  heard  the  word  before  and  could  spell  it,  in 
the  old  style,  going  back  to  the  first  syllable  in  pronoun- 
cing it  after  every  successive  syllable.  Then  his  love  of 
antiquities,  and  his  wonderful  memory  of  dates  and  anec 
dotes,  made  him  most  entertaining,  as  all  his  teaching  and 
examining  were  interspersed  with  these  varieties  as  they 
were  suggested  by  whatever  might  be  in  the  lessons. 
When  he  had  criticised  the  classes  and  told  his  stories, 
and  his  rich  sonorous  voice  had  joined  the  childish  ones 
with  "  Greenville  "  or  "  Old  Hundred,"  he  rose  to  go, 
and  the  school,  rising,  remained  standing  while  he  passed 
out,  bowing  right  and  left  as  he  went.  "  Thou  shalt  rise 
up  before  the  hoary  head,  and  honor  the  face  of  the  old 
man."  Young  America  needs  many  a  lesson  to-day  in 
common  courtesy  to  the  aged.  Of  the  pupils  who  figured 
conspicuously  in  this  old  school,  a  volume  might  be  writ- 
ten, but  this  is  not  the  time  or  place,  for  most  of  them  are 
still  grappling  with  the  problems  of  life.  But  there  are 
still  tenderly  remembered,  the  sweet  young  girls  who 
faded  early  from  sight  and  fell  asleep  before  sorrow  or 
care  cast  a  shadow  over  them  ;  and  brave  and  manly  boys 
who  went  forth  to  serve  their  country  and  whose  fate  is 
marked  by  a  little  flag  and  a  withered  wreath  in  yonder 
cemetery. 

But  we  must  take  leave  of  the  old  school-house.  It 
overflowed  into  the  town  hall,  and  the  old  stone  school- 
house  in  Walnut  Street,  and  still  the  children  came, 
springing  up  like  Roderick  Dhu's  men,  till  the  town  pro- 
vided new  and  ample  accommodations  ;  and  the  old  build- 


GOOD-BY  TO  THE  OLD  SCHOOL-HOUSE.        97 

ing,  no  longer  wanted,  was  sold  to  George  W.  Bird,  the 
apothecary,  in  1855,  who  moved  it  to  its  present  location 
and  altered  it  into  the  dwelling  and  shop  now  occupied 
by  A.  A.  Cheney,  watchmaker.  One  would  think  his 
clocks  and  watches  might  catch  the  echoes  of  the  old 
walls,  and  be  heard  in  the  stillness  of  night  ticking  out 
the  spelling  book  and  striking  the  changes  of  the  multi- 
plication table. 


98  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  SHARPS. CURIOUS  OLD  PAPERS. THE  SEWALLS.  ED- 
WARD   DEVOTION. CAPTAIN  WINCHESTER. THE  GRIGGS 

FAMILY. HARVARD    STREET,    CONCLUDED. 

T  EAVING  School  Street  to  proceed  up  Harvard  Street, 
-*-**  we  find  the  first  house  to  be  that  of  Esquire  Sharp, 
on  the  left  hand  side,  standing  now  next  to  Cousens' 
Block,  but  formerly  on  the  high  bank  at  the  entrance  to 
Harvard  Avenue,  on  the  left.  The  only  other  house  on 
that  side  of  the  street  before  arriving  at  the  present  site 
of  the  house  of  William  Griggs,  was  the  house  of  Cap- 
tain Robert  Sharp,  on  the  site  of  the  present  house  of  J. 
C.  Abbot,  Esq.  (We  are  writing  now  of  forty  or  more 
years  ago.)  On  the  north  side  of  the  street  was  no  house 
from  Aspinwall  Avenue  to  the  house  occupied  by  Charles 
Stearns,  Sen.  All  the  land  on  both  sides  belonged  to  the 
Sharps.  This  name,  like  that  of  many  of  the  other  old  fam- 
ilies, is  extinct ;  but  through  a  line  of  female  descendants, 
the  ancient  Sharps  "  still  live,"  in  the  families  bearing 
the  names  of  Clark,  Davis,  Jones,  and  Craft,  in  this  town, 
and  through  the  Buckminsters,  in  the  families  of  Rev.  Dr. 
Lothrop,  George  B.  Emerson,  and  Judge  Lowell,  of  Bos- 
ton and  Brookline. 

We  will  go  back  more  than  two  hundred  years,  and 
trace  downwards  something  of  the  family  history.  Robert 
Sharp  was  of  English  origin,  and  came  to  Boston  in  the 
ship  Abigail  in  1635,  from  London,  aged  twenty  years. 
It  would  seem  that  he  lived  at  Dorchester  for  a  while,  as 


THE   SHARPS.  99 

he  came  from  there  to  Brookline,  or  Muddy  River,  in 
1650,  with  Peter  Aspinwall,  and  the  two  bought  a  great 
tract  of  land,  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  of  William 
Colborn.  The  ancient  deed,  bearing  the  above  date,  is 
still  preserved  in  the  Aspinwall  family.  Harvard  Street 
was  not  then  laid  out,  and  School  Street  was  but  a  part 
of  the  lane  leading  to  the  Aspinwall  house  from  the 
"  Watertown  road,"  as  Washington  Street  was  then 
called.  Four  years  later  Harvard  Street  was  laid  out 
through  their  farms,  and  the  Davis  property,  etc. ; 
"  Peeter  Asppenwall,"  William  Davis,  and  others  ap- 
pointed by  the  town  authorities  of  Cambridge  being  au- 
thorized to  lay  out  the  street. 

The  ancient  dwelling  house  of  the  Sharps  was  near  the 
present  corner  of  Harvard  and  Auburn  Streets,  on  what 
is  now  Mr.  Harris's  lawn.  The  old  cellar,  and  an  Eng- 
lish cherry  tree  which  was  near  it,  were  to  be  seen  within 
the  memory  of  persons  now  living.  Robert  Sharp  died 
in  1654,  and  in  1656  we  find  recorded  a  petition  of  his 
widow,  who  has  already  consoled  herself  with  a  second 
husband,  that  "Peter  Aspinwall  and  Thomas  Meekins  " 
be  appointed  guardians  for  her  three  minor  children,  John, 
Abigail,  and  Mary.  It  is  proposed  that  Aspinwall  "  take 
ye  two  daughters  and  finde  them  meate,  drinke  and  ap- 
parell,  learne  them  to  reade,  to  knitt,  to  spine,  and  such 
Housewifery,  and  keepe  them  either  to  ye  day  of  marriage 
or  until  ye  age  of  eighteene ;  for  which  said  '  Peeter ' 
is  to  have  ye  vse  and  profitt  of  ye  house  and  land,  yt  was 
said  Sharps,  only  ye  said  Peeter  besides  bringing  up  ye 
said  daughters,  in  consideration  of  ye  benefit  of  said  house 
and  land,  alow  ye  sonne  £5  per  annum.  (Thomas  Meek- 
inne's  had  the  sonne  to  bringe  up  to  his  trade.)"  Signed 
January  15,  1656,  witnessed  by  Abigail  Clapp,  Relicte  and 
Administratrix  to  the  Estate  of  the  late  Robert  Sharp." 
Nine  years  later,  on  April  15,  1665,  we  find  a  petition  of 


100  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

the  mother  that  the  guardians  be  discharged,  they  having 
fulfilled  their  trust.  At  this  time  John,  the  eldest,  is 
twenty-two  years  of  age  and  married,  Abigail  seventeen 
and  Mary  twelve. 

We  hear  no  more  of  the  "  sonne  John,"  till  the  begin- 
ning of  the  year  1676,  when  he  writes  a  letter  to  his  old 
guardian,  Thomas  Meekins,  which  we  copy  entire  for  its 
exquisite  quaintness. 

[Address.]  "  This  for  Loving  Master  Thomas  Meekins  living 

at  Hatfield.     This  deliver. 
"  LOVING  AND  MUCH  RESPECTED  MASTER:  — 

"  My  love  is  remembered  to  you  and  my  dame  hoping  you  are 
wel  as  I  am  at  the  writing  hereof,  blessed  be  God  for  it.  My 
wiff  desiars  to  be  remembered  unto  you  and  my  dame,  and  wee 
are  yet  in  our  habitation  through  Gods  marsi,  but  we  are  in  ex- 
pectation of  the  enimi  everi  day  if  God  be  not  the  more  marsi- 
ful  unto  us. 

"  I  have  been  out  7  weeks  myself  and  if  provisions  had  not 
grown  short  we  had  folood  the  enimi  into  your  borders,  and 
then  I  would  have  given  you  a  visit  if  it  had  been  possibel,  for 
I  went  out  a  volintere  under  Captain  Wadsworth  of  Milton,  but 
he  is  coled  horn  to  recrout  about  their  owne  town,  so  I  left  off 
the  desire  at  present. 

"  There  is  many  of  our  friends  taken  from  us.  Cap  Jonson  of 
Roxberi  was  slaine  at  Naragansit,  and  Will  lincoln  died  before 
his  wound  was  cured  ;  filip  Curtis  was  slane  at  a  wigwame  about 
Mendham,  but  we  have  lost  but  one  man  with  us  these  wars. 
My  mother  bose  is  ded  and  my  sister  Swift.  I  pray  remember 
my  love  to  John  Elis  and  his  wiff,  and  the  rest  of  our  friends, 
and  however  it  is  like  to  fare  with  us  God  knows,  and  wee  de- 
siare  to  comit  all  our  affairs  into  his  hands. 

"  So  having  nothing  els  desiaring  your  praiars  for  us,  I  rest, 
"  Your  Sarvant,  JOHN  SHARPE.* 

"Mudiriver  8  of  the  1  mo.  1676." 
*  Dr.  Pierce,  in  his  Town  Hall  Address,  1845,  speaks  of  the  Lieutenant  who 


LIEUT.  JOHN  SHARP.  —  ROBERT  SHARP.       101 

On  the  eighteenth  of  April  following,  occurred  the 
memorable  fight  at  Sudbury,  in  which  Captain  Wadsworth 
and  Lieutenant  Sharp  were  both  killed.  Those  who  are 
familiar  with  the  history  of  King  Philip's  War  will  re- 
member the  horrible  atrocities  practiced  upon  the  wounded 
in  this  battle.  It  is  only  to  be  hoped  that  poor  John 
Sharp  was  killed  outright,  early  in  the  contest. 

The  old  stone  which  formerly  marked  the  spot,  bore  the 
following  inscription  :  — 

"  Capt.  Samuel  Wadsworth  of  Milton,  his  Lieut.  Sharp  of 
Brooklin,  and  twenty-six  other  souldieis,  fighting  for  the  defence 
of  their  country  were  slain  by  the  indian  enemy  April  18, 1676, 
and  lye  buried  in  this  place." 

A  few  years  since  a  tasteful  monument  was  erected 
upon  the  spot. 

Lieutenant  John  Sharp  left  four  children,  Robert, 
William,  Martha,  and  Elizabeth.  The  son  Robert  mar- 
ried Sarah  Williams  of  Roxbury.  In  1690  a  campaign 
was  planned  against  the  Indians  at  the  north,  in  which  he 
bore  a  part.  A  writing  which  lies  before  us.  from  his 
own  hand,  is  worth  transcribing.  It  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  Know  all  men  by  these  presents  that  whereas,  I,  Robert 
Sharp  of  mudyriver  in  the  county  of  Suffolk  in  newingland  be- 
ing bound  out  to  the  warr,  and  leaving  some  conserns  behind 
me,  doe  therefore  ordain  and  constitute  my  loveing  father  Steven 
Williams  of  Roxbury  in  the  counti  aforesaid  my  lawful!  attorny 
for  and  in  behalf  of  myseulf  in  all  things  to  act  and  doe  in  all 
things  both  to  pay  and  receive  debts,  and  to  plead  and  to  be  im- 
pleaded  and  to  be  discharged  and  to  give  discharges,  to  imprison 

fell  at  Sudbury,  as  "  Robert  Sharp."  This  was  incorrect.  See  Town  Records 
of  Sudbury,  and  Eliot  Church  Records  of  Roxbury,  quoted  in  "  New  England 
General  Register,"  vol.  xi.  p.  257.  All  the  old  writings  prove  his  name  to  have 
been  John. 


102  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

and  to  be  imprisoned,  and  in  all  things  to  act  and  doe  as  my  lawful 
attorny  for  my  advantage  and  to  lett  out  my  lands  and  to  take 
rents  and  to  sell  and  dispose  as  if  it  were  myseulf,  and  in  all  and 
everi  respect  as  is  above  expressed  I  doe  leaue  my  conserns  for 
the  time  of  one  yeer  after  the  date  hereof  if  I  return  not  in 
witness  of  the  premises  I  have  hereunto  set  my  hand  and  affixed 
my  seal  this  16  of  aprill  1690.  ROB  ART  SHARP." 

"  Witnes.     Andrew  Gardner,  Samuel  Craft,  Sen." 

Like  his  father  this  Robert  "  returned  not ;  "  he  per- 
ished in  the  expedition  to  Canada. 

The  bones  of  Robert  Sharp  had  not  had  time  to  whiten 
in  the  Canadian  forests,  before  his  widow  married  Mr. 
Thomas  Nowell.  She  seems  to  have  been  unfortunate  in 
her  husbands  or  fatal  to  them,  for  in  1694,  less  than  four 
years  from  the  time  her  first  husband  went  to  the  "  warr" 
she  was  the  widow  of  Thomas  Nowell  and  made  a  will  in 
favor  of  her  children  by  Robert  Sharp,  of  which  we  will 
transcribe  one  clause  only. 

"  I,  Sarah  Nowell,  the  relict  of  Mr.  Thomas  Nowell,  late  of 
Muddy  River  in  their  Majesties  Province  of  Massachusetts  Bay 
in  Newengland  deceased,  being  about  to  intermarry  again  with 
Mr.  Solomon  Phipps,  son  of  Mr.  Solomon  Phipps  of  Cambridge^ 
&  &c,  I  do  therefore  by  these  presents  before  my  said  intermar- 
riage, for  and  upon  divers  good  and  weighty  causes,  reasons  and 
considerations  me  thereunto  moving.  And  also  that  I  may 
testify  and  demonstrate  the  naturall  love  and  affection  which  I 
have  unto  Robert  Sharp  and  Sarah  Sharp  the  children  which  I 
had  by  my  former  husband  Robert  Sharp,  And  that  I  may  faith- 
fully discharge  that  duty  unto  which  both  by  the  law  of  God 
and  nature  I  stand  obliged  by  providing  as  well  as  for  their 
future  good  and  comfort  as  well  as  for  my  own,  and  also  for  their 
decent  and  laudable  education  if  it  should  please  God  to  take 
me  away  from  them  or  deprive  me  of  doing  any  further  for  them, 


THE  BUCKMINSTEKS.  103 

I  do  therefore  by  these  presents  aforesaid  not  privately,  but  with 
the  knowledge  of  the  said  Mr.  Solomon  Phipps  make,  ordain, 
and  constitute  this  my  will  for  the  attainment  of  the  ends  pre- 
mized in  manner  and  form  following." 

The  will  then  goes  on  to  bequeath  all  "  the  housing 
and  lands  "  to  Robert,  and  sixty  pounds  in  money  to 
Sarah,  with  twenty  additional  pounds,  to  be  paid  to  her 
by  Robert  at  two  different  times  after  he  comes  of  age. 
Sarah  also  was  to  receive  various  household  goods,  includ- 
ing "  one  silver  cup,  three  silver  spoonds,  three  gold  rings 
and  one  silver  girdle  "  —  whatever  that  might  be. 

There  lies  before  us  the  bill  of  sale  of  "  a  neagroe 
Woman  named  Rose,"  which  the  above  mentioned  Mr. 
Thomas  Nowell  purchased  of  a  Mrs.  Abigail  Davis  in 
1693,  which  piece  of  property  this  enterprising  widow 
probably  retained  for  herself,  as  there  is  no  mention  made 
of  such  a  chattel  in  the  will. 

As  there  is  no  occasion  to  follow  the  widow  further,  we 
return  to  the  children  of  the  Lieutenant.  William,  it 
seems,  on  coming  to  manhood  removed  to  Pomfret,  Conn., 
and  some  years  afterwards  sold  out  all  his  Brookline  in- 
heritance to  his  nephew,  Robert,  his  brother  Robert's  son. 
He  was  a  resident  here  in  1704,  as  his  name  is  on  the  pe- 
tition for  a  separate  township  from  Boston.  Martha 
Sharp  was  destined  to  be  the  ancestor  of  a  distinguished 
posterity.  She  married  Joseph  Buckminster,  a  native  of 
this  town,  and  they  removed  to  Framingharn,  then  the 
outskirts  of  civilization,  and  lived  the  life  of  pioneers. 

Her  son  Joseph  was  a  colonel  in  the  army,  was  a  se- 
lectman of  that  town  twenty-eight  years,  and  town  clerk 
thirty  years.  For  thirty  years  he  also  represented  the  town 
in  the  General  Court  and  died  when  over  eighty,  beloved 
and  respected.  Her  grandson  William,  son  of  the  above- 
mentioned  colonel,  was  a  distinguished  man.  He,  too, 


104  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

held  the  office  of  colonel,  and  commanded  a  company  of 
minute  men  from  Barre,  at  the  battle  of  Bunker  Hill,  and 
was  wounded  there. 

Another  of  Martha  Sharp's  grandchildren,  a  brother 
of  the  last  mentioned,  was  a  clergyman,  and  from  him  in 
a  direct  line  descended  the  distinguished  Dr.  Joseph 
Buckminster  of  Portsmouth,  and  his  son  Rev.  Joseph  S. 
Buckminster,  the  beloved  and  talented  young  minister  of 
Brattle  Square  Church  in  Boston,  who  died  so  deeply 
lamented. 

His  sister,  Eliza  Buckminster,  wife  of  the  late  Thomas 
Lee  of  this  town,  was  the  author  of  "  The  Life  of  the 
Buckminsters, "  "  Naomi,"  "  Parthenia,"  and  other  works. 

As  Martha  Sharp's  descendants  are  still  numerous,  in 
most  cultivated  circles,  others  among  them  may  yet  dis- 
tinguish themselves  for  culture  or  patriotism. 

As  we  have  found  no  record  of  Elizabeth  Sharp's  mar- 
riage it  is  probable  she  died  single. 

We  now  return  to  Robert,  the  young  son  of  the  Robert 
who  perished  in  the  Canada  expedition.  He  was  but 
two  years  old  when  his  father  left  upon  the  fatal  march. 

As  soon  as  we  hear  of  him  in  his  early  manhood,  after 
his  marriage  to  his  wife  Susannah,  he  holds  the  office  of 
constable  of  this  town.  Soon  after  this  we  find  him  des- 
ignated as  captain.  Captain  Robert  (the  third  of  the 
name  it  will  be  remembered),  was  a  shrewd,  successful 
man  in  business,  as  his  accounts  and  other  papers  indicate. 
The  original  large  tract  which  his  great-grandfather 
bought  had  been  divided  and  subdivided  among  the  de- 
scendants, and  it  seems  to  have  been  his  great  aim  to  re- 
cover as  much  of  it  as  possible,  as  from  time  to  time 
deeds  were  recorded  showing  that  he  had  made  purchases 
of  various  lots  varying  from  a  few  rods  to  several  acres. 
He  also  boarded  or  pastured  sheep,  cattle,  and  horses  in 


ANCIENT   ACCOUNT-BOOK.  105 

great  numbers  for  people  living  in  Boston.  All  the  land 
from  the  corner  of  School  and  Washington  streets,  on 
the  north  side,  to  a  line  above  Park  Street,  extending 
across  beyond  Harvard  Street,  to  the  Long  wood  marshes 
along  the  river,  above  the  Aspinwall  lands  and  below  the 
present  Stearns'  lands  was  at  one  time  his  property  and 
was  probably  most  of  it  grazing  land.  A  glimpse  into  the 
prices  and  customs  of  those  early  days  in  our  own  town, 
is  afforded  by  these  long  preserved  papers. 

The  early  settlers,  as  is  well  known,  were  obliged  to 
barter  instead  of  giving  and  receiving  cash  payments,  and 
Captain  Sharp  did  not  always  get  paid  in  money  for  his 
"  Sider"  as  we  find  on  his  ancient  parchment-covered  ac- 
count-book the  credit  which  he  has  given  one  individual 
for  "  orringes,"  another  for  "naels,"  another  for  a  "gren- 
ston  and  a  pair  of  stillyards."  In  one  place  he  allows 
ten  pence  for  one  "  orring,"  and  in  another  two  shillings 
and  eight  pence  for  four. 

The  explicitness  with  which  the  expense  of  each  item 
of  an  outfit  of  clothing  is  recorded,  in  the  quaint  old  spell- 
ing of  those  days,  is  entertaining.  We  give  a  specimen. 

"  Paid  Thomas  Shade  for  Cloas. 

£     s.  d. 

For  a  hatt 330 

For  a  shurt 090 

For  Britches 150 

For  Stockens 36 

For  a  coat 200 

Thus  the  "  cloas,"  it  will  be  seen  by  reckoning  a  little, 
cost  a  little  less  than  thirty  dollars,  in  United  States 
money. 

In  another  place  is  the  receipt  which  Abigail  Story,  a 
long-forgotten  school  teacher,  gave  Captain  Sharp  for  X3 
16s.  for  keeping  school. 


106  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

Mr.  Sharp  had  hired  laborers  who  came  and  went  as 
farm  hands  do  now,  but  he  also  had  a  man  who  was  bound 
by  indenture  to  him  by  his  master,  Joseph  Little,  of  Bos- 
ton, for  three  years.  This  man  is  described  in  the  inden- 
ture as  "  Dunkan  Mackeever  late  of  Bellenock  in  the 
county  of  lonon  Derry,"  and  the  writing  obliges  Captain 
Sharp  to  "  supply  his  said  servant  with  Sufficient  meat, 
Drink,  washing,  lodging  and  apparrel  fitting  for  such  a 
Servant,  and  at  the  end  of  Said  Term  shall  Dismiss  his 
said  Servant  with  two  suits  of  apparrell  suitable  for  Every 
part  of  his  body."  This  is  signed  by  "  Duncken  Ma- 
Keever." 

But  the  Captain's  good  wife  Susannah  needed  help  in 
the  great  farm-kitchen,  and  it  was  obtained  on  this  wise : 

BOSTON  March  12,  1749. 

Received  of  mr.  Robart  Sharp  iun  Ninety-eaight  Pounds  old 
tenor  in  full  for  a  Negro  girl  named  Luce  beLonging  to  the 
Estate  of  Mr.  Hez'h.  Barber. 

(Signed.)  EUNICE  LANERD. 

An  old  order  issued  by  the  assessors  of  this  town  to 
Constable  Robert  Sharp  in  1719,  instructs  him  to  collect 
the  sum  of  thirty  pounds  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
for  the  town  expenses  of  that  year. 

Captain  Sharp  built  and  occupied  a  house  which  stood 
on  the  site  of  the  present  residence  of  J.  C.  Abbott,  Esq. 
It  was  a  large  square  house,  was  never  painted,  except 
the  window  frames,  which  being  white  made  the  house, 
which  was  black  with  age,  a  very  conspicuous  object  on 
Harvard  Street.  It  remained  there  until  about  twenty- 
five  years  ago. 

Captain  Sharp  died  in  1765,  aged  seventy-seven  years. 
He  left  a  son  Robert  and  four  daughters. 

The  will  left  by  Captain  Robert  Sharp  proves  him  to 


THE   SHARP   FAMILY.  107 

have  been  a  man  of  wealth  for  those  days,  and  in  it  he 
provides  abundantly  for  his  "  beloved  wife  Susannah," 
and  puts  in  a  clause  which  allows,  or  enjoins  her  to  be- 
stow all  that  is  over  and  beyond  her  own  requirements 
upon  such  of  her  children  as  treat  her  best.  There  was 
real  estate  belonging  to  this  family  in  the  town  of  War- 
wick, Mass.,  which  was  then  called  "  Gardner's  Canada," 
it  being  a  part  of  a  large  tract  in  the  northwest  part  of 
the  State  which  was  assigned  to  soldiers  (or  their  heirs) 
who  served  in  the  Canada  expedition.  Ashburnham,  it 
will  be  remembered,  was  a  part  of  the  same  tract  and  was 
called  "  Dorchester-Canada." 

Among  other  effects  which  the  Captain  left  to  his  wife 
was  a  negro  slave,  Jane,  and  a  silver  tankard.  This  silver 
tankard  was  presented  by  Mrs.  Sharp  to  the  First  Con- 
gregational Church  in  this  town  in  1770  and  is  still  pre- 
served. She  did  not  long  survive  her  husband. 

All  the  "  housing  and  lands  "  became  the  property  of 
the  son  Robert,  who  it  seems  by  old  papers  still  extant 
was  kind  to  his  mother,  and  carried  out  his  father's  inten- 
tions with  regard  to  the  property. 

The  fourth  Robert  Sharp  married  Sarah  Pay  son  of 
Roxbury,  by  whom  he  had  ten  children,  four  of  whom 
died  in  infancy.  The  eldest,  Robert,  died  without  chil- 
dren, and  at  this  point  the  family  name  of  Robert  ceases. 

The  second  son,  Jacob,  was  married,  but  died  at  the 
age  of  twenty-nine,  in  the  year  1775,  no  doubt  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  country. 

The  third  son,  Stephen,  becaure  a  prominent  man  in 
Brookline  and  is  still  well  remembered  by  many  persons 
now  living  as  Esquire  Sharp. 

This  was  the  person  to  whom  allusion  has  been  made 
as  the  owner  of  the  large  square  house  which  stood  until 
recentlv  on  the  left  of  the  entrance  to  Harvard  Avenue, 


108  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

from  Harvard  street,  and  is  now  standing  next  to  Cousens' 
Block,  on  the  same  street,  and  occupied  as  a  tenement 
house.  On  the  left  side  of  Harvard  Avenue  on  the  site 
of  the  garden  of  Mr.  M.  C.  Warren,  was  a  house  which 
Esquire  Sharp  had  finished  off  from  a  shed,  and  afterwards 
enlarged  for  a  farm-house,  to  be  occupied  by  whoever  he 
hired  to  carry  on  his  large  farm.  This  house  was  moved 
to  School  Street,  several  years  ago,  where  it  still  remains, 
opposite  Mr.  Matthews'  residence. 

Esquire  Sharp  was  never  married.  He  was  a  teacher 
in  the  little  old  school-house  in  School  Street  for  many 
winters,  was  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  town  clerk  for 
many  years.  It  will  be  remembered  that  this  was  the 
man  who  brought  Tom  Cook  to  grief  for  stealing  the 
goose,  as  mentioned  in  a  former  chapter. 

The  'Squire  was  a  somewhat  stern  and  gruff  man  in 
his  ways,  and  not  very  popular  with  the  children  of  the 
neighborhood,  and  was  known  by  them  by  the  nickname 
"Grumpy"  He  died  in  1820. 

From  his  sister  Lucy,  who  married  into  the  Davis  fam- 
ily, descended  Captain  Robert  Sharp  Davis,  whose  son  of 
the  same  name  is  now  living  in  Brookline. 

From  another  sister  (Mary)  descended  the  present 
Jones  family  of  Brookline,  and  the  Clarks  of  Walnut  and 
Warren  Street.  The  eldest  daughter  married  Caleb  Crafts 
of  this  town,  and  her  descendants  are  still  living,  though 
not  in  Brookline. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  this  ancient  family,  now  so 
numerous,  are  all  traced  directly  back  in  an  unbroken 
lin.3  to  the  Robert  Sharp  who  came  from  England  in  the 
Abigail  in  1635,  arid  beyond  that  the  family  is  traced  to 
Robert  Sharp  of  Islington,  England,  as  far  back  as  1534. 
Few  New  England  families  are  probably  able  to  trace 
their  ancestry  so  far  and  so  creditably. 


ESTATE   OF   CHIEF  JUSTICE   SEWALL.  109 

The  old  unpainted  house  previously  alluded  to,  on  the 
site  of  J.  C.  Abbott's  residence,  was  occupied  after  Cap- 
tain Sharp's  death  by  Major  Joseph  Jones  who  had  mar- 
ried into  the  family.  Several  years  after  Major  Jones's 
death  the  farm  was  improved  by  his  son  Stephen  S.  C. 
Jones,  afterwards  postmaster  of  Brookline.  In  the  inter- 
val between,  it  was  in  the  hands  of  Moses  Jones,  who 
became  unrivaled  as  a  farmer,  subsequently,  in  Cypress 
Street.  The  old  house,  black  with  the  storms  of  many 
years,  was  taken  down  about  thirty  years  ago. 

Stephen  Sharp's  residence  passed  into  possession  of  his 
nephew,  the  late  Samuel  Crafts,  of  this  town,  and  was  oc- 
cupied by  him  for  many  years,  and  these  two  estates  were 
spoken  of  as  "  the  Jones  "  and  "  the  Crafts  farms,"  until 
cut  up  into  house  lots  and  divided  by  many  streets  and 
avenues. 

The  next  estate  on  Harvard  Street,  in  former  times  was 
that  of  Chief  Justice  Sewall,  comprising  three  hundred 
and  fifty  acres  of  land,  most  of  it  being  now  known  as 
Longwood.  It  extended  from  Harvard  Street  to  Charles 
River,  and  from  the  A  spin  wall  and  Sharp  Estates  to 
Pleasant  Street.  This-  property  came  into  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Judge  by  inheritance.  The  earliest  owner  of 
this  great  portion  of  our  town  was  John  Hull,  who  lived 
in  a  house  somewhere  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Sears 
Church,  or  Gospel  Church,  Longwood.  He  was  a  poor 
boy,  but  his  devotion  to  his  widowed  mother  caused  the 
Rev.  John  Wilson,  the  first  minister  of  Boston,  to  predict 
for  him  a  prosperous  future.  The  prediction  was  verified. 
John  Hull  became  Master  of  the  Mint  in  Boston,  an  opu- 
lent merchant  and  a  large  landowner.  He  was  highly 
respected  throughout  the  colony.  He  married  Judith, 
daughter  of  Edmund  Quincy,  the  first  of  that  distin- 
guished family  in  this  country.  It  is  said  that  he  was  the 


110  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLIXE. 

designer  of  the  coat  of  arms  of  Massachusetts, — an  In- 
dian with  a  bow  and  arrow,  —  and  also  of  the  famous  pine- 
tree  shillings. 

Chief  Justice  Sewall  married  for  his  first  wife,  Hannah, 
the  only  daughter  of  John  Hull,  and  thus  came  in  pos- 
session of  the  large  estate  which  John  Hull  owned  in  this 
town. 

When  the  marriage  took  place,  the  bride  received  from 
her  father  as  a  wedding  present,  her  weight  in  pine-tree 
shillings  !  How  heavy  she  was  we  are  not  informed,  but 
at  all  events  her  dowry  seems  to  have  been  a  substantial 
one. 

John  Hull  died  in  1683.  A  poem  written  upon  his 
death  by  Rev.  Daniel  Gookin,  son  of  the  Major-general, 
is  entitled,  "  A  few  Shadie  Meditations  occasioned  by  the 
death  of  the  deservedly  honored,  John  Hull  Esq.,  who 
was  removed  from  his  earthly  tabernacle,  to  be  an  inhab- 
itant of  the  house  not  made  with  hands  eternal  in  the 
heavens,  30  September,  1683." 

A  notice  of  his  wife's  death,  supposed  to  be  by  Rev. 
Cotton  Mather,  reads  as  follows,  — 

"  Mrs.  Judith  Hull,  of  Boston,  N.  E.,  late  wife  of  John  Hull 
Esq.  deceased,  a  diligent,  constant,  fruitful  reader  and  hearer  of 
the  word  of  God,  rested  from  her  labors,  22  June,  1 695,  being 
the  seventh  day  of  the  week,  a  little  before  sunset,  just  about 
the  time  she  used  to  begin  the  Sabbath,  aged  69. 

Chief  Justice  Sewall  was  famous  in  his  day,  as  one  of 
the  judges  who  condemned  the  Salem  witches  to  death, 
an  error  in  judgment  of  which  he  lived  to  repent  bitterly, 
and  for  which  he  made  voluntary  and  humble  confession 
in  public,  in  the  Old  South  Church  in  Boston.  The 
Judge  is  represented  by  his  biographers  to  have  been  em- 
inent for  piety  and  learning.  He  died  in  1730. 


CHIEF  JUSTICE   SEWALL.  Ill 

An  interesting  sketch  of  Judge  Sewall's  life  may  be 
found  in  the  "  New  England  Historical  Register,"  vol.  i., 
page  105.  It  would  seem  from  this  paper,  that  the  Judge 
was  far  in  advance  of  his  age  in  perceiving  the  evils  of 
negro  slavery,  and  in  courage  to  denounce  it. 

In  writing  to  Judge  Davenport,  just  before  he  sat 
upon  the  trial  of  a  white  man  for  killing  a  negro,  he 
made  use  of  language  which  has  the  true  ring  of  justice 
in  it.  We  quote,  — 

"  The  poorest  boys  and  girls,  in  this  province,  such  as  are  of 
the  lowest  condition,  whether  they  be  English,  or  Ethiopians,  or 
Indians  ;  they  have  the  same  right  to  religion  and  life,  that  the 
richest  heirs  have.  Arid  they  who  go  about  to  deprive  them  of 
this  right  attempt  the  bombardment  of  Heaven  ;  and  the  shells 
they  throw  will  fall  down  on  their  own  heads." 

He  wrote  and  published  a  tract  in  1700,  called  "  The 
Selling  of  Joseph,"  which  was  perhaps  the  first  anti-slav- 
ery document  published  in  the  United  States.  It  seems 
strange  that  a  man  so  clear-headed  in  his  judgment  as  to 
the  rights  of  the  weak  and  defenseless,  could  have  been 
misled  even  temporarily  in  the  witchcraft  cases,  but  that 
when  he  saw  his  error  he  had  the  rare  courage  and  the 
honor  to  confess  it,  does  credit  to  his  heart.  The  Judge 
left  many  volumes  of  valuable  manuscript  which  are  still 
carefully  preserved. 

Samuel  Sewall,  Jr.,  son  of  the  Judge,  lived  in  a  house 
on  the  site  of  the  present  residence  of  Charles  Stearns, 
Esq.,  which  was  built  in  1703.  His  son  Henry  succeeded 
him  in  the  same  house.  He  was  a  farmer,  and  held  the 
office  of  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  this  town.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  Harvard  College,  as  were  also  his  own  three 
sons,  Henry,  Hull,  and  Samuel. 

Henry  and  Hull  both  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-four, 
and  little  is  known  of  them.  Samuel  was  a  young  law- 


112  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

yer  practicing  in  Boston  at  the  breaking  out  of  our  Revo- 
lutionary difficulties,  and  he  became  so  odious,  as  a  Tory, 
that  he  was  obliged  to  leave  his  native  land,  and  ended 
his  days  in  England.  He  owned  real  estate  in  Brookline 
in  his  mother's  right,  which  was  forfeited,  he  being  a 
refugee,  and  after  the  war  it  was  sold  by  the  Government. 
It  was  purchased  by  Mr.  John  Heath,  the  ancestor  of  the 
present  Charles  Heath  of  this  town,  and  has  ever  since 
been  retained  by  that  family. 

The  house  now  occupied  by  Charles  Stearns,  Esq.,  was 
built  for  Henry  Sewall,  Jr.,  and  after  his  death  was  oc- 
cupied by  his  daughter,  who  married  Edward  K.  Wol- 
cott. 

This  Wolcott  built  the  old  house  on  the  Francis  estate, 
near  the  river,  north  of  Pleasant  Street  and  Brighton 
Avenue,  established  a  race-course  there,  and  kept  a  pub- 
lic house  for  several  years,  and  was  succeeded  in  that 
business  by  his  son-in-law  Frost.  It  was  not  very  suc- 
cessful, however,  and  after  a  while  was  abandoned. 

About  the  time  the  Mill-dam  was  projected,  a  great 
part  of  the  Sewall  estate  was  bought  up  by  the  five  gen- 
tlemen who  were  the  prime  movers  in  that  enterprise,  of 
whom  Eben  Francis  was  one,  in  expectation  of  a  rapid 
growth  of  Boston  in  that  direction  and  the  consequent 
rise  of  property.  But  though  the  Mill-dam  was  com- 
pleted, contrary  to  the  predictions  of  the  croakers  of  that 
generation  who  pronounced  it  a  wild  scheme,  the  ex- 
pected rise  of  real  estate  did  not  follow,  and  those  who 
bought  the  Sewall  property  died  without  seeing  their 
hopes  realized.  It  was  their  misfortune  to  be  in  advance 
of  the  times. 

The  elder  Charles  Stearns,  who  came  here  from  Chelsea, 
purchased  and  settled  upon  the  estate  now  owned  by  his 
heirs,  quite  early  in  the  present  century,  and  the  Wol- 


JOHN  DEVOTION.  —  EDWARD  DEVOTION.      113 

cotts  left  Brookline ;  none  of  the  descendants  of  Judge 
Sewall  being  now  left  in  the  town,  so  far  as  we  can  learn, 
though  there  are  a  few  bearing  the  names  of  Ridgway 
and  Gilbert  in  Boston. 

Next  west  of  the  Sewall  estate  is  situated  what  has 
been  in  modern  times  known  as  the  Babcock  farm,  but  in 
Judge  Sewall's  day  was  the  property  of  John  Devotion. 

The  ancient  house  is  no  doubt  at  least  two  hundred 
years  old. 

John  Devotion  was  a  prominent  citizen  in  Muddy 
River,  holding  various  offices,  and  his  name  appears  upon 
the  petition  for  a  separate  township. 

Ebenezer  Devotion,  probably  a  son  of  John,  became  a 
clergyman  and  removed  to  Connecticut,  and  from  him 
descended  "  Grace  Greenwood,"  Mrs.  Lippincott,  of  liter- 
ary fame. 

After  the  death  of  John  Devotion,  the  house  was  occu- 
pied by  his  son  Edward,  and  Mary  his  wife.  Edward 
Devotion  was  a  public  spirited  citizen,  and  reference  to 
the  old  records  of  the  town  will  show  that  he  held  various 
offices  of  trust  for  many  years.  In  the  church  he  was  for 
a  long  period  the  tithingmari. 

The  principal  duty  of  this  officer  was  to  keep  good 
order  during  divine  service,  among  the  children,  who  sat 
in  rows  by  themselves  instead  of  with  their  parents.  A 
long  rod  was  usually  carried  by  the  tithingman,  with 
which  to  touch  any  delinquent  who  might  become  drowsy 
or  mischievous.  Whether  this  ancient  Brookline  tithing- 
man was  particularly  feared  by  the  youngsters  does  not 
appear,  but  he  was  evidently  not  unfriendly  to  children, 
as  he  adopted  a  boy  and  girl,  whom  he  brought  up,  as  he 
had  no  children  of  his  own. 

The  old  house  in  the  village,  formerly  known  as  the 
Brewer  house,  next  the  brick  blacksmith  shop,  was  prob- 


114  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

ably  built  for  Edward  Devotion,  as  he  died  in  that  house 
in  November,  1774. 

He  left  the  old  house  on  Harvard  Street  to  the  young 
couple  whom  he  had  brought  up,  and  who  were  then 
married.  To  the  Brookline  church  he  left  a  silver  tank- 
ard. 

He  also  left  to  the  town  a  sum  of  money,  which  at  the 
time  of  its  being  received  in  1762,  amounted  to  "  £739 
4s.  lawful  money,"  for  the  use  of  schools. 

This  money  was  borrowed  by  the  State  during  the 
Revolutionary  war,  and  when  it  was  paid  back  to  the 
town,  it  was  in  depreciated  Continental  currency.  It  was 
put  at  interest  however,  and  in  1845  had  accumulated  to 
the  amount  of  -$4,531.01,  which  was  appropriated  to  the 
building  of  the  Town  Hall,  which  was  to  have  two  school 
rooms  in  it. 

Why  would  it  not  have  been  well  to  keep  in  memory 
this  worthy  patron  of  education,  by  giving  his  name  to 
the  old  Town  Hall  ? 

Solomon  Hill,  the  young  man  to  whom  Edward  De- 
votion left  his  old  house,  and  some  money,  did  not  prove 
to  be  very  enterprising,  and  before  many  years  lost  his 
property  and  died,  very  poor,  in  an  old  house  in  the  vil- 
lage. The  house  which  Mr.  Devotion  left  to  him  was 
sold  to  a  man  named  Marshall  who  occupied  it  for  a 
number  of  years,  until  it  was  purchased  by  one  of  the 
five  gentlemen  heretofore  mentioned  as  having  bought 
the  Sewall  property.  It  was  hired  for  some  time  by  the 
late  George  Babcock,  who  afterwards  bought  it,  and  its 
history  since  its  purchase  by  him  is  well  known. 

The  house  is  a  curious  old  relic  of  former  times,  and 
the  beautiful  elms  which  shade  it  were  no  doubt  set  out 
by  the  hands  of  the  ancient  owner,  whose  devotion  to 
the  interests  of  his  church  and  town,  suggest  the  idea 


THE  WINCHESTERS.  115 

that  a  similar  characteristic  in  his  ancestry  may  have 
earned  for  the  family  its  very  uncommon  name. 

A  sister  of  Edward  Devotion  married  a  Ruggles  of 
Roxbury,  and  old  papers  are  extant  in  which  her  son 
Edwiird  Haggles,  of  that  place,  presents  claims  for  prop- 
erty left  him  by  his  uncle,  which  had  not  been  settled. 

In  an  ancient  paper  found  between  the  floors  of  the 
old  house  once  occupied  by  Deacon  Benjamin  White, 
which  was  taken  down  in  1809  (on  the  site  of  General 
Lyman's  house),  is  found  the  order  of  the  seats  in  the 
First  Church,  in  1719,  where  Mr.  Edward  Devotion's  seat 
is  mentioned  "  as  on  the  men's  fore-seat  in  the  body- 
seats,"  and  his  wife's  place  in  the  "  women's  fore-seat," 
according  to  the  unsocial  and  strange  old  practice  of 
separating  husbands  from  wives,  and  parents  from  chil- 
dren during  religious  service. 

There  are  modern  churches  in  which  employment  could 
be  found  for  several  tithingmen,  notwithstanding  the  im- 
proved methods  of  arranging  families  during  divine  ser- 
vice. 

THE  WINCHESTERS. 

The  name  of  Winchester  was  a  prominent  one  in  the 
early  history  of  Brookline.  The  family  was  scattered 
throughout  the  town,  and  Harvard  Street  was  probably 
the  place  of  the  first  settlement.  The  family  was  of 
Welsh  descent  and  emigrated  to  this  country  at  a  very 
early  date.  On  the  site  of  the  present  residence  of  Wil- 
liam Griggs,  Esq.,  stood  until  some  thirty  years  ago  an 
ancient,  unpainted  house,  black  with  age. 

This  house  was  the  residence  of  John  Winchester,  the 
first  representative  of  Brookline  in  the  General  Court. 
All  the  land  from  Harvard  Street  to  the  top  of  Corey's 
Hill,  and  west  as  far  as  Brighton  line  on  that  side  of  the 
street,  belonged  to  the  Winchesters.  It  may  have  ex- 


116  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

tended  over  upon  the  south  side  of  the  hill  for  aught  we 
know,  as  there  was  a  house  on  the  site  of  the  stone  house 
now  owned  by  the  Coreys  on  Washington  Street,  which 
belonged  to  Isaac  Winchester,  but  we  leave  that  side  of 
the  hill  for  a  future  chapter.  Corey's  Hill  was  spoken  of 
in  the  early  records  of  Boston  and  Muddy  River  as  "  the 
great  hill,"  and  it  is  certain  that  for  many  years  the  Win- 
chesters were  the  principal  owners  of  it.  It  was  prob- 
ably well  wooded  once,  as  was  a  great  part  of  the  Sewall 
and  Sharp  farms  and  the  Babcock  place. 

Two  tall  trees  which  escaped  the  axe,  probably  only 
because  they  were  buttonwoods,  not  good  for  timber,  and 
vexatious  for  firewood,  were  left  standing  on  the  very 
summit  of  the  hill  till  they  died  a  natural  death  not  many 
years  ago.  On  one  of  these  for  a  few  of  the  last  years  of 
its  existence,  was  conspicuous  a  bright  tin  signal,  placed 
there  by  the  U.  S.  Coast  Survey,  and  discernible,  when 
the  sun's  rays  fell  upon  it,  far  up  and  down  the  coast. 

John  Winchester  being  near  neighbor  to  Samuel  Sew- 
all,  was  one  of  the  first  to  sign  the  petition  drawn  up  by 
him  for  a  separation  of  this  town  from  its  parent,  Boston. 

After  his  death,  his  son,  Capt.  John  Winchester,  occu- 
pied the  homestead,  and  after  him  his  son  Isaac,  probably 
the  one  alluded  to  above  as  afterwards  living  on  the  other 
side  of  the  hill. 

After  him  it  came  into  possession  of  Samuel  Griggs, 
the  grandfather  of  Deacon  Thomas  Griggs  now  living  on 
Washington  Street,  and  after  his  death  to  his  son  Thomas. 
And  there  his  widow  remained,  living  to  a  great  age,  a 
much  beloved  and  respected  lady,  and  for  her  sake  and 
during  her  lifetime  the  old  house  was  allowed  to  remain. 

After  her  death,  over  thirty  years  ago,  Deacon  Thomas 
Griggs  had  the  old  house  taken  down. 

The  branch  of  the" Griggs  family  represented  in  this 


JOSEPH   GRIGGS.  117 

part  of  the  town  are  the  descendants  in  a  direct  line  from 
Joseph  Griggs  who  was  born  in  England  in  1625,  became 
a  freeman,  or  member  of  the  church  in  1653,  in  Roxbury, 
and  the  same  year  married  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Griffin 
Crafts.  She  died  almost  immediately  after,  and  he  mar- 
ried the  next  year  Hannah  Davis,  likewise  of  Roxbury. 

The  children  of  this  marriage  were  Hannah,  Benjamin, 
Joseph,  Ichabod,  and  Mary. 

From  Ichabod  Griggs  descended  Thomas,  grandfather 
of  the  present  venerable  citizen  of  that  name.  There 
has  been  a  Thomas  in  this  family  ever  since  1715.  Joseph 
Griggs,  the  ancestor  above  mentioned,  lived  in  that  part 
of  Brookline  village  which  was  then  a  part  of  Roxbury, 
as  in  the  Suffolk  Registry  of  Deeds,  lib.  24,  folio  279,  is 
recorded  the  following  Deposition  :  — 

"  Jos.  Griggs  of  Roxbury,  aged  about  85  years,  testifieth 
and  saith  that  about  three  score  years  since  he  settled  at  Muddy 
River  now  called  Brooklyne  and  has  lived  there  and  at  Roxbury 
ever  since,  and  in  all  that  time  has  been  very  well  acquainted 
with  that  tract  of  land  now  in  farms  and  proprietys,  viz.,  Capt. 
Sewall,  the  late  ,  Deacon  Elliot's  Devotions,  Clarks  and  others 
lying  in  Muddy  River  aforesaid,  which  was  commonly  called  a 
common  field  butting  on  the  salt  marishes.  As  to  the  fence  or 
enclosure  of  said  common  field  this  deponent  very  well  remem- 
bers that  those  persons  that  owned  the  upland  were  at  the  whole 
and  sole  charge  of  the  outside  range  of  fence  the  marish  owners 
refusing  to  pay  any  part  of  the  charge  and  at  a  meeting  of  the 
upland  and  marish  owners  about  forty  years  since  the  marish- 
men  representing  their  design  to  fence  the  marish  from  the  up- 
land desired  the  upland  owners  to  be  (?)  their  proportion  but 
the  upland  owners  utterly  refused  it  for  the  reason  above  men- 
tioned and  told  the  marish  owners  that  if  they  would  fence  out 
the  marish  they  must  do  it  at  their  own  cost,  and  this  depon't 
hath  never  known  or  understood  that  the  upland  owners  ever 
bore  any  proportion  of  the  charge  of  fencing  off  the  marish,  but 


118  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

that  they  did  at  all  times  maintain  the  outside  range  of  fence 
and  the  marish  men  were  at  the  charge  of  fencing  the  marish 
from  the  upland.  JOSEPH  GEIGGS,  January  21,  1709." 

The  dispute  was  about  the  fences  along  the  old  road- 
way which  once  skirted  the  upland  from  a  point  this  side 
of  Chapel  Station  to  what  was  called  Se wall's  Point, 
where  the  fort  was  afterwards  built.  Traces  of  this  old 
road  are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  fringe  of  trees  which 
still  borders  the  edge  of  the  upland  north  of  Chapel 
Station. 

Joseph  Griggs  died  in  1715,  at  the  age  of  90. 

Ichabod  Griggs  had  nine  children,  and  was  probably  a 
man  of  wealth  for  his  times,  as  some  old  papers  which  are 
extant,  show  that  his  son  Thomas,  who  came  of  age  1726-27, 
received  of  his  guardian,  James  Clark,  the  sum  of  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-eight  pounds  nine  shillings  as  his  share  of 
his  father's  estate.  The  names  of  Samuel  Griggs  (his 
elder  brother)  and  Thomas  Cotton,  appear  as  witnesses 
on  this  old  receipt.  Samuel  Griggs  settled  on  Harvard 
Street  on  the  estate  now  in  the  Griggs  family.  It  was 
formerly  Captain  John  Winchester's.  Thomas  Griggs 
married  Margaret  Williams.  From  this  marriage  came 
Moses  Griggs,  from  whom  descended  that  branch  of  the 
family  in  this  town  now  represented  by  the  heirs  of 
the  late  David  R.  Griggs,  Samuel  Griggs,  and  Deacon 
Thomas  Griggs.  From  Nathaniel,  the  youngest  son,  de- 
scended another  branch  of  the  family  now  represented  in 
Brighton. 

An  ancient  letter  recalls  an  incident  perhaps  long  for- 
gotten among  Nathaniel  Griggs'  descendants.  He  was 
born  in  1778.  The  letter  referred  to  was  written  in 
March,  1799,  by  a  young  lady  in  Brookline  to  another  be- 
longing here  but  who  was  on  a  visit  to  the  family  of  Dr. 
Goddard  in  Portsmouth.  She  tells  her  story  as  follows  :  — 


NATHANIEL   GRIGGS.  119 

"  One  day  the  week  before  last  Mr.  Nat.  Griggs  went  to  Bos- 
ton in  the  morning  with  his  team  and  before  he  got  back  his 
House,  furniture  and  Cloaths  except  what  he  had  on  his  back 
were  consumed  by  fire.  His  house  was  all  finished  but  one 
Room.  The  carpenter  had  just  begun  to  finish  that  and  went 
over  to  Mr.  Moses  Griggs'  to  get  some  tools.  It  is  said  he  was 
not  gone  more  than  ten  minutes  and  when  he  came  back  the 
House  was  all  in  flames,  —  he  left  a  window  open  and  there  was 
a  little  fire  on  the  Hearth  to  smoke  Bacon,  and  it 's  supposed 
the  wind  blew  a  train  of  shavings  into  the  fire  which  caught  the 
house.  The  Housekeeper  was  spinning  in  the  kitchen  but  did 
not  perceive  the  fire  till  the  flames  burst  in  upon  her&  she  jumpt 
out  at  a  window  and  lost  all  her  cloaths  but  what  she  had  on. 
But  Mrs.  Moses  Griggs  and  Mrs.  Tom  Gardner  have  been  around 
the  town  to  collect  Cloaths  for  her  so  I  believe  her  loss  is  in  part 

made  up  if  not   all When    Mr.    Griggs  got  home  and 

found  his  House  and  all  that  was  in  it  burnt  up  (except  a  few 
things  in  the  cellar  were  saved)  he  was  ready  to  sink.  One  hun- 
dred dollars  of  money  was  consumed  some  silver,  some  Bank 
Bills,  the  Silver  was  melted  into  small  pieces  like  shot.  But 
one  of  his  Brothers  and  Ebby  Davis  went  round  the  next  morn- 
ing with  a  subscription  paper  &  people  were  very  liberal,  the 
more  so  because  he  was  a  very  industrious  young  man.  Judge 
Dana,  of  Cambridge  gave  him  eighty  dollars,  Major  Gardner 
forty,  Mr.  Mason  twenty  and  every  body  according  to  their 
ability.  Some  gave  him  Timber,  some  boards  carried  to  the 
spot,  some  bricks,  some  lime,  and  in  short  he  is  to  have  a  new 
house  raised  this  week  and  expects  to  be  married  before  long  to 
Nancy  Aspinwall.  He  was  finishing  his  house  for  her  when  it 
was  burnt." 

He  afterwards  married  accordingly. 

For  more  than  two  hundred  years  there  was  a  Joseph 
Griggs  in  this  ancient  family,  but  this  Christian  name 
seems  to  have  fallen  into  disuse  within  the  last  half  cen- 
tury. This  family  in  its  various  branches  has  been  al- 


120  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

ways  of  high  standing  in  the  town,  having  hardly  ever 
been  without  one  or  more  members  holding  some  office  of 
trust  and  honor  either  in  the  town  or  church.  One  of  the 
elder  members  of  the  family  in  the  last  century  was  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Baptist  Church  in  Newton.  The 
present  venerable  senior  deacon  of  the  Baptist  Church,  in 
this  place,  was  active  in  the  interests  of  the  first  church  of 
that  faith  in  Roxbury,  and  when  the  time  came  for  a  sim- 
ilar movement  in  Brookline,  he  was  one  of  the  first  and 
most  liberal  in  the  cause.  He  has  also  repeatedly  held 
the  office  of  Selectman  in  this  town  to  the  entire  accept- 
ance of  our  townspeople.  During  the  second  war  with 
England,  he  was  in  active  service  as  Ensign  of  the  Brook- 
line  Company  on  duty  in  Boston  harbor. 

A  young  lady  of  this  family,  Miss  Helen  Maria  Griggs, 
daughter  of  Joseph  and  Sarah  Griggs,  was  eminent  as  a 
foreign  missionary,  in  the  employ  of  the  Baptist  denomi- 
nation. Her  daughter  Harriet  is  now  the  wife  of  Rev. 
Mr.  Stephens  of  the  Burmah  mission. 

Two  of  the  sons  of  the  former  Thomas  Griggs,  and  who 
were  born  in  the  old  house  now  occupied  by  David  Cool- 
idge,  removed  to  Sutton,  Mass.,  in  their  early  manhood, 
and  there  became  honored  and  influential  citizens.  Their 
descendants  are  scattered  among  the  towns  in  that  vicinity. 
One  or  more  of  them  are  physicians  by  profession.  Moses 
Griggs,  who  was  before  mentioned  as  one  of  the  sons  of 
this  Thomas  Griggs  (father  of  the  late  D.  R.  Griggs), 
settled  just  within  the  edge  of  Brighton,  the  house  being 
the  first  after  crossing  the  town  boundary  on  the  north 
side  of  Harvard  Street.  It  is  not  now  standing.  The 
house  which  his  brother  Nathaniel  built  on  the  site  of  the 
one  that  was  burned,  is  the  house  which  still  stands  nearly 
opposite  the  one  just  mentioned.  In  these  four  houses, 
two  in  Brookline  and  two  in  Brighton,  but  so  near  the 


THE  WINCHESTER   HOUSE.  121 

boundary  as  to  be  all  neighbors,  four  or  five  generations 
of  Joseph  Griggs'  descendants  have  lived,  and  here  many 
of  them  have  died.  Samuel  Griggs,  Jr.,  brother  of  the 
present  Deacon,  removed  to  Rutland,  Vt.,  where  he  lived 
to  a  great  age,  one  of  the  most  earnest  and  faithful  pion- 
eers in  that  town  in  all  matters  of  local  interest  and 
church  labor  and  prosperity.  Stephen,  the  youngest 
brother,  was  for  many  years  a  merchant  in  London.  He 
returned  to  his  native  land  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  labor, 
but  very  soon  after  was  drowned  in  Salem  harbor.  He 
left  a  daughter,  of  unusual  talents,  and  great  strength  and 
beauty  of  character.  She  wrote  admirably,  and  would 
have  been  distinguished  had  she  lived  and  chosen  to  make 
literature  a  profession,  but  she  did  not  long  survive  her 
father,  whom  she  mourned  with  a  rare  and  touching  de- 
votion. 

The  next  house  on  that  side  of  the  street,  the  one  now 
owned  by  David  Coolidge,  Esq.,  was  built  by  Nathan 
Winchester,  the  son  of  Captain  John.  It  has  been  added 
to  and  altered  since  his  day,  but  the  original  house  is  there, 
though  much  disguised,  and  its  low  ceiling  and  quaint 
architecture  mark  it  unmistakably  as  one  of  the  few  old 
relics  of  the  past,  thoroughly  identified  with  the  early 
history  of  our  country,  and  too  rapidly  passing  away. 

At  this  house,  on  the  day  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  a 
detachment  of  British  troops,  marching  up  Harvard  Street, 
stopped  for  water  and  were  served  by  the  frightened  in- 
mates, who  received  no  harm.  Like  its  neighbor  this 
house  came  into  possession  of  the  Griggs  family.  The 
ancient  doctor  alluded  to  in  our  sketch  of  "  the  Downer 
house  "  in  the  village,  came  here  to  live,  in  the  latter  part 
of  his  life. 

Mr.  Joshua  Griggs,  the  father-in-law  of  the  present 
owner,  Mr.  Coolidge,  also  lived  and  died  here. 

9 


122  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  Winchester  family  and  the  Griggs  family  are 
both  so  numerous,  and  located  in  so  many  parts  of  the 
town,  that  further  mention  must  be  made  hereafter  of  the 
various  branches  of  the  families. 

There  was  still  another  branch  of  the  Griggs  family 
located  in  Roxbury,  near  the  southwest  part  of  this  town. 
They  were  all  from  the  same  English  origin  and  the  fam- 
ily coat  •  of  arms  has  within  a  few  years  been  procured 
from  England  by  some  member  of  the  family  who  was 
interested  in  Heraldry. 

Further  toward  Brighton,  and  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  street,  near  Smelt  Brook,  there  stood  formerly  a  very 
old  house,  once  owned  by  Amos  Gates.  He  removed  to 
Worcester,  and  tradition  does  not  report  what  befell  his 
house.  This  brings  us  to  Brighton  line  or  Allston,  in 
this  direction,  and  closes  the  history  of  Harvard  Street. 
The  north  part  of  the  town  has  various  other  points  of 
interest,  however. 

Pleasant  Street,  until  about  twenty-five  years  ago,  was 
only  a  green  lane  which  served  to  connect  Harvard  Street 
with  Brighton  Avenue.  The  sides  of  the  lane  were  a 
tangled  thicket  of  wild  rose-bushes  and  raspberry  and 
blackberry  vines.  There  were  but  two  houses  on  Pleas- 
ant Street  at  that  time.  On  the  top  of  the  hill,  on  the 
site  of  Mrs.  Adams'  late  residence,  stood  a  large  house 
painted  a  light  dull  green.  There  was  no  beauty  or  cul- 
tivation around  it  and  no  wonder  it  changed  tenants  often, 
for  it  was  as  unattractive  as  a  barrack,  and  too  isolated 
to  be  identified  with  the  interests  of  any  neighborhood. 
It  was  occupied  in  the  summer,  several  seasons,  by  Du- 
rivage,  of  some  literary  note.  The  green  house  took  fire 
one  day  when  a  high  wind  was  blowing,  and  was  speedily 
destroyed. 

On  the  corner  of  Pleasant  Street  and  Brighton  Avenue 


AN   ANCIENT   HOUSE.  123 

was  another  house,  with  a  blacksmith's  shop  attached, 
occupied  for  years  by  a  thriftless  family.  We  have  al- 
luded before  to  the  Francis  house,  further  towards  the 
river,  once  kept  as  a  public  house.  This  was  occupied 
for  many  years  by  William  Dearborn,  now  of  Walnut 
Street,  who  carried  on  the  extensive  farms  on  that  side 
of  Brighton  Avenue. 

On  the  right  of  Brighton  Avenue,  about  half  way  from 
Pleasant  Street  to  Fourth  Street,  stood  one  more  house 
belonging  to  either  the  Sears  or  Francis  purchase,  which 
for  several  years  was  occupied  by  Isaac  Dearborn,  brother 
of  William  Dearborn,  and  afterwards  by  Rev.  Dr.  Hague, 
now  of  Chicago. 

Far  down  toward  the  marsh,  on  land  now  belonging  to 
the  Lawrence  estate,  near  St.  Mary's  Street,  was  a  most 
ancient  house,  but  by  whom  built  is  unknown.  It  was 
on  Judge  Sewall's  farm  and  may  have  been  the  house  of 
John  Hull,  the  ancient  mint  master  of  Boston,  whose 
daughter  became  the  wife  of  Judge  Sewall,  as  it  is  Avell 
known  that  he  built  and  occupied  a  house  in  that  vicinity. 
This  house  was  occupied  by  a  Mr.  Easterbrooks  in  the 
early  part  of  the  present  century,  and  afterwards  by 
Martin  Morse.  After  Mr.  Amos  Lawrence  purchased 
the  place,  the  old  house  was  taken  down.  While  the 
work  of  demolition  was  going  on,  the  workmen  found 
behind  the  great  old  chimney  a  number  of  pine-tree  shil- 
lings and  ancient  English  copper  money.  They  had  used 
it  nearly  all  to  pay  their  toll  from  day  to  day  over  the 
Mill-dam,  before  it  was  known  by  any  one  who  appreci- 
ated the  true  value  of  the  coin,  and  but  a  few  pieces  were 
recovered. 

This  house  was  accessible  originally  by  a  road  which 
skirted  the  uplands  at  the  verge  of  the  marsh,  and  of 
which  Sewall  Avenue  was  a  part,  On  Sewall  Avenue, 


124  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

stood  the  old  house  of  Col.  Thomas  Aspinwall,  who  com- 
manded Fort  Sewall  a  part  of  the  time  during  the  Revo- 
lution, and  which  was  burned  some  twenty  years  ago. 

These  houses  were  all  which  then  stood  upon  the  whole 
territory  now  known  as  Longwood,  except  a  small  house 
on  Sewall  Avenue,  which  was  once  a  cider  mill  and  was 
altered  into  a  dwelling  house  by  the  late  Marshall  Stearns. 
It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  whole  farm  on  the  north 
side  of  Brighton  Avenue,  commanding  as  it  does  a  beau- 
tiful and  extensive  prospect  both  up  and  down  the  river, 
and  with  the  greatest  variety  of  surface  and  noble  old 
shade  trees,  could  not  have  fallen  into  the  hands  of  gen- 
tlemen of  taste  and  wealth,  and  become  a  fitting  precinct 
of  beautiful  Longwood.* 

Until  within  thirty  years  the  whole  of  that  part  of  the 
town  was  quite  wild  and  picturesque.  Within  three  miles 
of  the  State  House  and  closely  bordering  on  one  of  the 
great  thoroughfares  leading  to  Boston,  it  seems  strange 
that  the  dream  of  the  founders  of  the  Mill-dam  should 
have  so  long  remained  unfulfilled  ;  but  could  they  see  it 
in  its  present  wealth  of  cultivated  beauty  and  select  popu- 
lation, it  would  seem  that  they  must  find  that  the  reality 
had  exceeded  their  anticipations. 

*  By  an  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  1873-74,  all  the  territory  north  of  the 
southerly  line  of  Brighton  Avenue  became  a  part  of  Boston. 


HOLDEN'S  HOUSE  AND  GROUNDS.  125 


CHAPTER  VII. 

WASHINGTON    STREET. HOLDEN'S    HILL. LEED's    PLACE. 

DANA  PLACE. 

RETURNING  to  Harvard  Square,  it  will  be  recol- 
lected by  those  who  have  read  the  early  pages  of  this 
volume,  that  the  old  Dana  Tavern,  though  it  fronted 
upon  the  Square,  extended  somewhat  toward  Washington 
Street.  In  the  rear  of  the  old  tavern,  in  what  is  now  the 
easterly  part  of  Mr.  Panter's  yard,  was  situated  in  the 
latter  part  of  the  last  century  a  wheelwright's  shop,  oc- 
cupied by  Mr.  James  Holden,  the  owner  and  occupant 
also  of  the  house,  which  has  been  within  a  few  years  re- 
built entirely  by  Mr.  Panter. 

We  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain  any  facts  respecting 
this  ground  before  Mr.  Holden's  day,  and  probably  his 
was  the  first  house  built  upon  that  site,  as  the  whole  hill, 
including  all  the  ground  from  Harvard  Street  to  Wash- 
ington and  thence  to  School  Street,  was  once  a  part  of  the 
Davis  estate. 

Mr.  Holden,  having  married  the  widow  of  the  third 
Ebenezer  Davis,  who  owned,  besides  a  large  part  of  the 
hill,  all  that  is  now  Linden  Place  and  a  large  tract  of 
marsh  below  it,  found  the  pursuits  of  agriculture  more 
profitable  than  the  making  of  wheels,  and  thenceforward 
devoted  himself  to  the  farm. 

After  the  old  tavern  was  burnt,  if  not  sooner,  the  shop 
was  removed  and  the  yard  in  front  of  the  house  was 
filled  with  peach  and  cherry  trees.  Close  to  the  sidewalk 


126  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

stood  an  immensely  large  and  high  buttonwood  tree, 
perfectly  straight  and  symmetrical,  and  a  little  east  of  it  a 
fine  graceful  elm,  also  of  large  size.  The  lowering  of  the 
road  to  its  present  level  made  it  necessary  to  cut  these 
trees  down.  The  buttonwood,  like  most  of  its  kind, 
suffered  from  an  epidemic  about  that  time  and  was 
apparently  in  a  dying  condition.  It  was  over  a  hundred 
feet  high.  Behind  the  house,  and  extending  up  the  slope 
of  the  hill,  was  a  small  apple  orchard,  covering  the  ground 
now  east  of  Holden  Street  as  far  back  as  the  Baptist 
church  and  a  part  of  what  is  in  Holden  Street,  only  it 
was  higher  than  the  roofs  of  the  houses  now  situated 
there. 

There  are  many  persons  who  remember  Mr.  Holden 
and  his  wife  perfectly  well,  and  the  great  flat  boxes  of 
cherries  containing  a  bushel  or  two  apiece  which  used  to 
stand  along  his  yard,  ready  to  be  loaded  upon  his  wagon 
for  Boston  market,  and  later  in  the  season  the  peaches 
which  loaded  his  trees  and  blushed  in  crimson  and  gold 
from  the  great  baskets  and  boxes. 

The  aged  couple  preserved  their  old  fashioned  customs 
after  many  of  their  neighbors  had  discontinued  them,  and 
the  bright  andirons  and  red  bricks  made  the  sitting-room 
cheerful,  as  the  wood  fire  burned  on  the  hearth  in  winter, 
and  the  old  kitchen  retained  its  wooden  settle  alongside 
the  wide  fire-place  long  after  every  neighboring  kitchen 
was  warmed  by  a  cooking  stove.  Mr.  Holden  became  a 
Baptist  late  in  life,  and  was  baptized  by  Rev.  Dr.  Shailer 
when  over  seventy  years  of  age. 

The  next  house  also  belonged  to  this  estate,  and  has 
been  entirely  rebuilt  and  much  enlarged  since  the  death 
of  the  old  people. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  the  ground  lay  open 
as  a  pasture,  belonging  to  the  Davis  estate  until  1833, 


SETH  AND  ISAAC   THAYER.  127 

when  two  brothers,  Seth  and  Isaac  Thayer,  came  to 
Brookline,  and  bought  a  large  tract  of  ground,  and  set- 
tled here. 

Mr.  Seth  Thayer  had  married  into  the  Davis  family, 
however,  and  his  house-lot  came  in  that  way.  He  built 
the  house  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Eastman,  lately  by  Mrs. 
Fitz  as  a  boarding  school,  and  his  brother  Isaac  built  and 
occupied  the  house  now  owned  by  Mr.  Beck,  fronting  on 
Davis  Avenue,  formerly  Washington  Place. 

The  two  brothers  laid  out  the  grounds  with  taste  and 
elegance,  terraced  the  sloping  parts,  and  set  out  beautiful 
shade  and  fruit  trees. 

For  a  dozen  or  twenty  years  these  were  the  finest 
houses  and  grounds  in  that  vicinity.  There  were  no 
other  buildings  on  the  grounds,  the  store  on  the  corner 
not  being  built  till  the  latter  part  of  Mr.  Seth  Thayer's 
life. 

From  the  time  the  front  corner  was  taken  for  that 
purpose  the  beauty  of  the  place  had  departed,  and  a  few 
years  after,  Mr.  Edwin  Field  bought  another  lot  next  it 
and  built  the  store  now  occupied  by  M.  Kingman.  The 
more  recent  changes  thereabouts  are  familiar  to  all.  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Thayer  both  died  in  the  house  and  their  large 
family  of  children  are  scattered.  The  second  son,  John 
Gorham,  was  a  fine,  manly  boy,  very  popular  among  his 
schoolmates ;  his  handsome  face  and  deep,  strong  voice 
are  well  remembered  by  all  who  knew  him.  He  had  left 
Brookline  before  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  but  he  en- 
listed in  the  service  and  did  brave  duty  as  a  cavalry  offi- 
cer till  his  health  was  sacrificed  and  he  retired  from  the 
army  to  die.  He  was  brought  home  to  Brookline  cem- 
etery, where  he  sleeps  in  an  honored  soldier's  grave. 

Theodore  A.  Thayer,  sixth  son  of  Seth  T.  Thayer, 
was  Captain  of  Company  G,  Massachusetts  Forty-first 


128  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

Regiment.  Clarence  H.  Thayer,  the  seventh  son,  was 
promoted  from  Company  A,  First  Massachusetts  Regi- 
ment, to  rank  of  Captain  in  a  colored  Regiment.  He 
died  in  South  Africa  in  1873. 

Mr.  Isaac  Thayer,  it  will  be  remembered,  bought  and 
took  down  the  old  Punch  Bowl  tavern  and  built  ten 
houses  in  the  village.  He  also  at  one  time  owned  the 
land  now  belonging  to  the  town  between  Holden,  Pros- 
pect, and  Pierce  streets,  which  was  very  high  and  with- 
out trees  or  buildings.  On  the  summit  of  this  hill  he  in- 
tended to  build  an  academy.  He  terraced  the  southerly 
slope  of  it  and  ground  was  broken  for  the  cellar  of  the 
proposed  building,  when  his  enterprises  met  sudden  re- 
verses and  he  left  town.  The  whole  of  the  ground  now 
owned  by  the  town  in  that  vicinity,  was  at  one  time  pur- 
chased by  Mr.  Samuel  C.  Davis  for  four  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars. 

After  the  town  purchased  the  hill,  and  began  to  dig 
into  it  for  gravel,  it  remained  for  twenty  years  or  more  an 
unsightly  gravel  bank.  The  top  was  often  used  on  holi- 
days as  a  sort  of  public  ground,  and  for  years  a  cannon 
was  fired  from  there  on  the  morning  of  the  Fourth  of 
July,  greatly  to  the  excitement  and  delight  of  the  boys. 
It  was  a  favorite  spot  also  for  kite-flying,  and  many  a 
favorite  kite  has  soared  from  its  youthful  owner's  grasp 
on  Holden's  Hill,  and  been  wafted  away  into  the  un- 
known, a  fitting  emblem  of  later  losses  of  what  seemed 
more  substantial  treasures. 

In  1845,  enough  of  the  original  hill  was  leveled  and 
graded  to  admit  of  building  thereon  the  wooden  town- 
house  now  known  as  the  Police  Station  on  Prospect 
Street.  There  was  a  great  celebration  at  the  "  Dedica- 
tion," which  took  place  on  the  14th  of  October.  Dr. 
Pierce,  of  the  First  Church,  was  the  orator,  and  his  ad- 


THE   PUBLIC   LIBRARY.  129 

dress  "bristled  with  figures,"  for  he  was  eminently  a  man 
of  statistics  and  much  valuable  information  was  preserved 
to  future  generations  by  his  careful  compilation  for  that 
occasion.*  Two  apartments  in  this  building  were  fitted 
up  for  school-rooms  and  were  thus  used  until  the  erection 
of  the  Pierce  Grammar  School-house. 

The  gravel-bank  in  the  rear  slowly  diminished  as  the 
town  had  occasion  to  use  the  gravel,  but  it  was  an  un- 
sightly place  for  several  years.  The  wooden  building  was 
removed  in  the  spring  of  1871,  to  make  room  for  the  new 
Town  House.  The  Brookline  Public  Library,  which  began 
in  the  old  Town  House,  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  in- 
stituted under  the  general  statute  authorizing  towns  and 
cities  to  raise  and  appropriate  money  for  founding  and 
maintaining  public  libraries.  It  was  established  by  a 
vote  of  the  town,  March  30,  1857.  The  sum  of  $934, 
being  $1  for  each  ratable  poll  the  preceding  year,  was 
appropriated  for  its  foundation ;  and  an  additional  sum 
of  $233,  being  25  cents  for  each  ratable  poll,  was  voted 
for  its  increase  and  maintenance  during  the  then  current 
year. 

These  were  the  extreme  sums  which  could  be  legally 
raised  by  taxation  for  the  purpose. 

The  Library  was  opened  in  an  apartment  on  the  first 
floor  of  the  old  Town  House,  December  2, 1857.  It  then 
contained  900  volumes,  and  here  it  remained  until  the 
completion  of  the  new  and  commodious  building  in  1869. 
The  Library  during  the  first  thirteen  years  of  its  exist- 
ence was  under  the  care  of  Mr.  John  E.  Hoar  as  Libra- 
rian. It  increased,  by  donations  and  appropriations,  to 
11,000  volumes,  when  the  new  building  was  ready  to 

*  The  author  of  this  work  is  greatly  indebted  to  the  valuable  information  in 
the  appendix  to  this  address,  as  to  location  of  ancient  houses,  and  other  mat- 
ters of  interest. 


130  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

receive  it,  and  since  1870,  when  the  generous  fund  of 
$10,000  was  presented  by  John  L.  Gardiner,  Esq.,  the 
number  of  books  has  been  increased  to  16,000. 

The  ground  on  the  south  side  of  the  street,  including 
both  sides  of  Thayer  Place,  and  the  site  of  the  Engine 
House,  was  pasture  land  and  belonged  for  many  years  to 
the  Thayer  estate.  It  extended  southward  to  Dr.  Shurt- 
leff's  line,  and  included  the  whole  space  which  has  been 
so  highly  improved  by  Mr.  E.  C.  Emerson.  The  rocky 
nook,  with  the  brook  winding  about  it,  was  known  for 
years  as  "  Brignal  Banks  "  by  many  who  delighted  in  its 
picturesque  beauty. 

On  the  north  side  of  Washington  Street,  from  the 
corner  of  Prospect  Street  to  the  grounds  of  the  Public  Li- 
brary (and  including  a  small  strip  of  that  ground),  and 
on  the  south  side  of  the  street,  from  the  Engine  House  to 
the  house  of  William  Heath,  was  the  "  Leeds  place,"  so 
called  for  fifty  years  or  more,  prior  to  1868. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  last  century  and  the  early  part 
of  the  present  one,  this  place  was  occupied  by  a  mechanic 
named  King,  though  the  ground  on  the  south  side  of  the 
street  was  then  a  part  of  Benjamin  Davis's  farm.  For 
many  years  Mr.  King  was  the  only  wheelwright  in  Brook- 
line.  The  two  taverns  brought  much  business  of  this  kind 
into  town,  and  this  man,  an  excellent  workman,  had  a 
monopoly  of  his  particular  line  of  work. 

He  had  a  large  family  of  children  and  could  have  main- 
tained them  all  comfortably  and  brought  them  up,  an  ad- 
dition to  the  wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  town,  but  for 
the  excessive  use  of  liquors,  in  which  he  not  only  indulged 
himself,  but  to  which  he  brought  up  his  children.  From 
the  time  the  little  ones  left  the  cradle  they  were  accus- 
tomed to  the  free  use  of  rum  and  molasses,  both  of  which 
were  kept  standing  upon  the  kitchen  table,  and  to  which 


THE   LEEDS   PLACE.  131 

they  early  learned  to  help  themselves.  The  result  was  as 
might  be  expected.  The  whole  family  grew  up  worthless 
in  mind  and  body,  and  one  by  one  became  town  paupers. 

The  parents  died,  but  the  children  were  numerous,  and 
though  they  scattered  in  different  places  they  surely  came 
back,  in  what  might  have  been  the  prime  of  life,  helpless 
and  worthless,  for  the  town  to  support,  till  it  became  a 
question  with  the  selectmen  whether  Brookline  would  ever 
see  the  last  of  the  Kings.  The  race  has  been  extinct  now 
for  several  years  and  it  were  better  their  memory  should 
perish  with  them,  only  for  the  lesson  it  bears  for  those  sim- 
ilarly tempted.  Brookline  could  furnish  material  for  more 
than  one  temperance  lecture,  from  more  than  one  class  in 
society. 

More  than  fifty  years  ago,  the  place,  of  which  the 
Kings  had  been  the  thriftless  occupants,  was  purchased 
by  Mr.  James  Leeds.  In  his  early  manhood  Mr.  Leeds 
was  a  boot  and  shoe  manufacturer,  and  was  the  only  per- 
son in  that  business  in  the  place,  for  several  years. 
Later  in  life  he  invested  his  capital  in  a  more  extensive 
and  profitable  business  of  another  sort,  in  Boston,  and 
having  acquired  a  handsome  property  retired  to  enjoy 
the  fruits  of  economy  and  enterprise,  and  employ  his 
leisure  in  making  his  surroundings  attractive. 

The  house,  Avhich  had  been  thoroughly  refitted  and 
ever  after  kept  in  repair,  was  the  house  a  few  years  since 
removed  from  the  site  of  the  houses  of  Messrs.  Collins 
and  Chase.  On  the  site  of  the  Express  stable  was  the 
barn  and  what  was  once  the  shoe-store  of  Mr.  Leeds. 

Mr.  Leeds  made  his  place  a  marvel  of  cultivation  and 
neatness.  Choice  fruit  trees  and  grape  vines  were  planted 
in  every  available  spot,  and  the  very  grass  was  rich  and 
wavy  under  successful  fertilization.  Near  the  shop  door, 
just  east  of  the  pump  which  stood  close  to  the  sidewalk, 


132  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

overhung  by  a  cherry  tree,  were  two  poplar  trees  which 
shaded  the  shop  from  the  glare  of  the  sun,  and  from  one 
to  the  other  a  ladder  extended  horizontally  some  twenty 
feet  from  the  ground. 

Along  this  ladder  a  grape-vine  which  crept  up  the 
cherry  tree  extended  its  length  and  let  down  its  tempting 
purple  clusters  between  the  green  leaves  and  among  the 
rounds  of  the  ladder.  Many  were  the  school-children 
who  stopped  at  the  pump,  and  gazed  up  at  the  grapes 
like  the  fox  in  the  fable,  but  never  thought  of  calling 
them  "  sour,"  for  the  September  rains  beat  down  the 
ripest,  and  those  who  picked  them  up  well  knew  how 
sweet  they  were. 

Behind  the  house,  the  hill  rose  steep  and  green  and 
well  covered  with  fruit  trees,  among  which  was  one  white 
mulberry.  Here,  too,  was  a  cluster  of  three  trees  from 
one  root,  in  which  was  placed  a  small  platform  with  seats 
and  a  railing  around  it,  a  few  feet  from  the  ground,  and 
very  happy  were  the  young  people  who  were  so  fortunate 
as  to  be  invited  to  play  there.  At  the  foot  of  the  hill, 
behind  the  house,  extended  a  long  trellis  of  grape  vines, 
and  on  the  sunny  side  of  it,  above  the  gravel  Avalk, 
bloomed  a  gay  display  of  flowers,  from  the  blue  and 
white  fleur-de-lis  of  May,  and  the  dark  red  peony  of 
June,  to  the  gorgeous  and  towering  dahlias  of  late  au- 
tumn. 

Two  great  boxes  of  hydrangeas  bloomed  in  the  front 
yard,  half  shaded  by  the  cherry  trees,  and  under  the  par- 
lor-windows blossomed,  early  in  spring,  the  quaint,  old- 
fashioned  crown-imperial.  Mrs.  Leeds  was  one  of  those 
people  for  whom  plants  always  blossom,  like  Aaron's  rod, 
because  they  cannot  help  it. 

The  very  walks  from  the  door  to  the  street,  though 
paved  with  bricks,  which  always  had  the  appearance  of 


THE  LEEDS   COTTAGE.  133 

being  newly  scoured  and  carefully  wiped,  were  gay  in 
all  their  chinks  with  the  bright  little  pansy,  or  ladies' 
delight,  and  not  a  weed  was  suffered  to  show  its  head. 
The  Missouri  currant  and  the  yellow  rock  roses  grew  on 
either  side  of  the  gate,  and  the  crab-apple  tree  hung  its 
pretty  little  fruit  west  of  the  parlor  window. 

For  years,  as  closely  identified  with  the  place  as  its 
master  and  mistress,  was  their  good-natured  yellow  dog, 
Diamond. 

As  long  as  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Leeds  remained  un- 
married and  at  home  this  house  was  a  favorite  resort  for 
a  circle  of  young  people  on  whose  memories  every  detail 
of  this  charming  old  place  is  minutely  photographed . 

On  the  hill  between  Mr.  Leeds'  house  and  Prospect 
Street,  fronting  Washington  Street,  stood  a  cottage  which 
he  also  owned,  and  which  he  rented  from  time  to  time  to 
various  tenants.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the  hill 
extended  from  the  old  Baptist  church  to  School  Street, 
behind  the  row  of  houses  on  Washington  Street,  and 
neither  Holden  Street  or  Prospect  or  Pierce  Street  was 
then  dreamed  of.  The  Leeds  cottage  was  high  up  on 
the  hillside,  and  approached  by  three  flights  of  steps  in 
the  terraces  in  front.  From  the  southerly  windows  was 
a  delightful  prospect.  In  the  rear  was  a  garden.  For 
several  years  this  place  was  occupied  by  Mrs.  William 
Sturgis  of  Boston,  a  lady  of  much  taste,  Avho  kept  it  at- 
tractive with  flowers. 

Prospect  Street,  when  first  laid  out,  went  only  to  the 
top  of  the  hill,  and  was  merely  a  rough  cart-road,  which 
when  the  hill  was  dug  down  enough  to  admit  the  build- 
ing of  the  Town  House,  was  left  high  and  impassable,  lead- 
ing nowhere. 

The  digging  of  this  down  to  its  present  level,  necessi- 
tated the  removal  of  the  whole  hill  west  of  it,  and  the 


134  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE.     • 

lowering  of  the  Leeds  cottage,  which  was  set  back,  al- 
tered into  a  two-story  house,  and  is  now  occupied  by  C. 
W.  Bachelder,  next  the  Police  Station. 

The  land  belonging  to  the  Leeds  place,  on  the  south 
side  of  Washington  Street,  was  till  so  recently  a  green 
field  covered  with  apple  trees  that  it  needs  no  description. 
No  part  of  the  town  has  altered  so  essentially  or  so 
rapidly  as  this  street  from  Harvard  Square  to  School 
Street  within  a  few  years,  and  it  would  be  difficult  for  a 
former  resident  who  had  been  ten  years  away  to  identify 
it. 

The  grading  of  the  street  to  its  present  level,  has  pro- 
duced a  corresponding  change  on  either  side.  Formerly 
there  was  a  deep  depression  in  the  "  road  "  in  front  of 
the  present  Library  grounds,  so  that  in  sleighing  time 
scarcely  a  day  passed  but  some  rapid  riders  came  to  a 
sudden  halt  and  total  discomfiture  in  going  through  it. 

The  Leeds  house  was  on  a  bank,  and  reached  by  a 
flight  of  stone  steps,  while  in  the  field  opposite,  the  hollow 
was  so  deep  as  to  hold  quite  a  skating  pond  in  winter, 
and  late  in  spring  small  boys  resorted  to  it  to  paddle 
about  on  rafts. 

Not  much  more  than  twenty-five  years  ago  there  was 
not  a  house  from  the  Thayer  house  to  the  Tolman  house, 
corner  of  Cypress  Street.  Now  there  are  some  forty 
buildings  on  the  south  side  of  the  street  between  those 
two  points. 


THE  FIRST   ENGINE-HOUSE.  135 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  FIRE  DEPARTMENT.* — THE  DANA  PLACE. MRS.  TOLMAN. 

PHE  next  place  of  interest,  upon  the  south  side  of 
-^  Washington  Street,  is  the  lot  occupied  by  the  Engine 
and  Hook  and  Ladder  Houses,  and  on  which  the  town 
has  lately  erected  a  commodious  brick  building,  which  it 
is  expected  will  meet  the  wants  of  this  part  of  the  town 
in  the  accommodation  of  adequate  fire-apparatus,  for 
years  to  come. 

Before  further  mention  is  made  of  recent  buildings 
there,  it  will  be  necessary  to  go  back  a  little,  as  the  his- 
tory of  the  fire  department  properly  belongs  to  "the 
village,"  that  is,  below  the  bridge.  The  first  engine- 
house  was  situated  for  several  years  at  the  point  of  junc- 
tion between  Walnut  Street  and  what  was  till  lately 
called  "  Village  Lane."  •  It  was  a  little  building  ten  feet 
by  fifteen,  and  when  Mr.  Oliver  Whyte  was  about  to  im- 
prove his  front  yard,  was  easily  transported  to  the  lot 
between  Walnut  and  Boylston  streets,  where  Quinlaii's 
building  now  stands.  About  when  this  transfer  took 
place  it  does  not  appear.  However,  it  was  certainly  lo- 
cated on  the  last  mentioned  spot  in  1820,  and  for  some 
time  after,  as  the  last  surviving  member  of  the  company 
of  that  date  remembered,  that  a  tree  which  stood  upon 
that  lot  was  blown  over,  and  the  roots  upturning,  broke 

*  Rewritten  March,  1873. 


136  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

a  hole  through  the  side  of  the  house,  which  remained 
unmended  as  long  as  the  old  building  stood. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  about  half  the  old  Punch 
Bowl  Village  was  then  a  part  of  Roxbury,  so  the  engine 
was  owned  by  both  towns,  and  the  men,  fifteen  in  num- 
ber, were  chosen  nearly  or  quite  equally  from  the  two 
towns.  The  members  "  took  turns  in  being  Captain," 
like  a  boy's  military  company,  believing  evidently  in  "ro- 
tation in  office."  It  would  be  charitable  to  hope  that  the 
system  worked  more  successfully  in  cases  of  fire,  than  it 
sometimes  does  in  politics. 

A  list  of  the  old  "  Vigilant "  company  of  1820,  pre- 
sents names  familiar  to  all  old  residents  of  this  town  :  — 

Jeremiah  Lyon,  Captain  ;  Isaac  Davis,  Lemuel  Foster, 
Win.  H.  Brown,  Jerathmiel  Davenport,  James  Leeds, 
Reuben  Hunting,  Reuben  Smith,  Silas  Snow,  Robert  S'. 
Davis,  senior,  Caleb  Clark,  Moses  Jones,  Edward  Hall, 
Samuel  Slack, Whiting. 

To  those  of  us  who  remember  these  individuals  only 
as  corpulent,  or  lame,  or  asthmatic  old  gentlemen,  the 
very  idea  of  any  of  them  running  is  sufficiently  ludicrous, 
to  say  nothing  of  working  the  brakes  of  an  engine,  climb- 
ing ladders,  etc.  But  they  were  all  young  and  vigorous 
then,  incredible  as  it  seems. 

It  was  a  fashion  they  had  in  those  times  for  each  new 
Captain  as  he  came  into  office,  to  give  a  supper  to  the 
whole  company,  either  at  his  own  house  or  the  "  Punch 
Bowl,"  for  in  the  engine-house  there  was  only  room  for  a 
single  row  of  men  to  stand  around  the  engine,  and  those 
suppers  were  hugely  enjoyed  by  the  company.  The 
Captain's  wife  may  have  had  opinions  of  her  own  about 
these  festivities. 

There  came  a  time  at  last  when  the  old  engine  was  — 
we  hope  it  is  allowable  to  say  it  of  an  engine —  "  played 


RIVAL   ENGINES. — A  CHALLENGE.  137 

out,"  and  a  new  one  was  to  be  bought.  It  was  an  event. 
The  town  was  astir.  The  purchase  of  three  new  "  steam- 
ers "  would  not  create  such  a  sensation  now  as  did  this 
affair. 

A  committee  was  chosen  to  make  preliminary  exami- 
nation ;  and  Thayer  of  Boston,  and  Hunneman  of  Rox- 
bury,  two  rival  engine-builders,  were  both  conferred  with. 

Suction,  if  then  invented,  was  not  aspired  to  by  the 
"  Vigilant "  Company,  and  having  but  few  men  it  was 
thought  best  to  secure  an  engine  that  would  work  easily. 
All  the  Roxbury  engines  were  built  by  Hunneman,  but 
the  "  Vigilants  "  decided  to  take  Thayer's,  a  tub  engine. 
All  the  water  was  brought  in  buckets  by  hand  and  turned 
into  this  kind  of  engine.  It  was  bought,  and  named 
"  Norfolk ;  "  the  new  engine-house,  over  the  brook  where 
Mahoney's  building  is,  next  the  depot,  a  small  one-story 
building,  was  already  built  some  time  before. 

All  were  pleased  with  the  purchase;  but  Mr.  Hunne- 
man's  son  came  up  from  Roxbury  to  see  it  experimented 
upon,  and  pronounced  it  a  poor  affair,  and  disparaged  it 
generally,  —  which  perhaps  might  have  been  expected  from 
a  man  whose  business  it  was  "  to  throw  cold  water,"  and 
whose  father  didn't  build  the  engine,  as  he  had  hoped  to. 

The  Brookline  Company  were  as  sensitive  to  censure 
of  their  u  tub  "  as  sailors  about  their  favorite  ship,  and 
the  affront  rankled. 

Shortly  after  there  came  a  challenge  from  Roxbury, 
for  the  "  Norfolk  "  to  meet  them  at  "  Hog  Bridge,"  for  a 
trial.  The  challenge  was  accepted,  and  the  men  drilled 
for  practice.  There  was  such  an  excitement  about  it 
that  many  supernumeraries  drilled,  so  as  to  be  ready  to 
take  the  place  of  any  who  might  fail  from  exhaustion. 
Among  these  was  a  Mr.  Hill,  an  elderly  man,  whose 
son  was  a  confectioner  in  the  village.  He  was  a  very 
10 


138  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

stout  and  powerful  man,  and  went  into  the  contest  with 
a  will.  The  five  engines  from  Roxbury  were  all  present. 

The  contest  began  in  the  forenoon,  and  continued  all 
day,  the  "  Norfolks  "  being  reinforced  by  fresh  men  from 
time  to  time.  Night  found  them  exhausted,  but  con- 
querors. Roxbury  had  done  its  best  and  could  not  "  wash 
the  tub,"  as  firemen  express  it ;  and  they  took  up  their 
homeward  march  with  the  proud  steps  of  victors.  Village 
pride  was  gratified,  and  the  engine  always  maintained  its 
well-earned  reputation.  Mr.  Hill,  however,  was  too  old 
a  man  for  such  a  strain  of  muscle  and  nerve,  and  he 
never  saw  a  well  day  afterwards. 

Under  date  of  April  25,  1829,  the  engine  company 
petitioned  the  towns  of  Roxbury  and  Brookline  "  for  six 
additional  members,  making  twenty-one  in  all,  taken 
from  the  militia  roll."  This  was  granted.  It  was  also 
"  Voted,  that  on  cloudy  days  when  the  sun  at  its  setting 
cannot  be  seen,  that  its  setting  be  determined  by  time  as 
given  by  J.  Davenport's  clock  and  the  '  Farmer's  Alman- 
ac.' '  Also  "  Voted,  that  the  custom  heretofore  in  prac- 
tice, of  the  members  giving  entertainments,  be  abolished.'1 

About  the  year  1838  a  new  suction  engine  was  pur- 
chased, which  was  called  "  Brookline  No.  1."  The  old 
company  had  all  been  superseded  by  younger  men,  and 
some  difficulty  occurred  about  the  choice  of  a  foreman  or 
captain,  and  for  some  little  time  there  was  no  organ- 
ized company. 

During  this  interval,  in  the  autumn  of  1843,  the  engine- 
house  was  fired  one  night  by  some  miscreant,  who  secured 
the  engine  so  that  there  was  great  delay  about  moving  it. 
The  honse  was  entirely  destroyed,  and  the  engine  dam- 
aged. 

Before  there  was  time  to  have  the  engine  thoroughly 
repaired,  the  great  fire  in  Church  Street,  Boston,  oc- 


NO.   1    FIRE-ENGINE   AND   HOUSE.  139 

curred,  and  the  blackened  machine  with  its  name  burnt 
off,  went  to  the  fire  with  its  name  chalked  on  the  back 
of  the  tub,  and  did  good  service. 

Soon  after,  the  town  contracted  with  Edward  Hall,  Jr., 
a  carpenter,  who  lived  on  the  corner  of  Washington  and 
School  streets,  to  build  a  new,  two-story  engine-house, 
and  purchased  a  lot  of  land  just  about  where  the  rail- 
road goes  under  the  bridge,  the  old  lot  being  very  small, 
and  only  over  the  brook. 

But  the  owner  was  unable  to  give  a  satisfactory  title 
to  it,  and  the  bargain  was  not  concluded.  Meantime,  the 
timber  was  already  prepared  and  waiting  to  be  put  up, 
and  the  builder  was  desirous  to  fulfill  his  contract ;  and 
Mr.  Thayer  offered  the  site  of  the  present  brick  engine- 
house  on  Washington  Street,  for  one  hundred  dollars, 
provided  it  should  never  be  used  for  any  other  purpose. 
In  case  of  violation  of  this  restriction  the  land  should 
revert  to  the  heirs.  As  no  other  lot  so  near  the  village 
was  available,  it  was  accepted  with  the  restrictions  upon 
it.  The  lot  for  the  Hook  and  Ladder  house  was  not  pur- 
chased till  several  years  afterwards. 

The  engine  company  reorganized,  with  the  engine 
thoroughly  repaired,  took  possession  of  the  new  house  in 
September,  1844. 

The  same  engine  is  in  the  service  of  the  t<*wii  now,  and 
like  its  predecessors  has  always  been  the  pride  of  the 
company,  and  is  not  now  surpassed  by  any  engine  of  its 
kind  and  size  in  the  vicinity  of  Boston. 

There  was  no  regularly  organized  hook  and  ladder 
company  until  February,  1871,  though  the  town  owned 
a  second-hand  apparatus  purchased  of  the  city  of  Rox- 
bury.  The  name  "  George  H.  Stone,"  was  appropriated 
by  this  company  in  honor  of  a  deceased  comrade  who  had 
been  a  very  efficient  fireman,  and  was  exceedingly  popu- 


140  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

lar  among  his  associates.  He  had  also  been  a  gallant 
soldier  during  the  late  war.  He  was  a  son  of  Elisha 
Stone,  before  mentioned,  as  for  many  years  the  principal 
sexton,  undertaker,  and  constable  of  the  town.  The 
town  purchased  a  modern  hook  and  ladder  truck  at  an 
expense  of  about  twelve  hundred  dollars.  The  present 
elegant  buildings  of  the  Fire  Department,  said  not  to  be 
exceeded  by  any  in  the  State,  were  built  in  1872,  and  the 
first  steam  fire-engine  was  purchased  in  1873.  The 
"  Good  Intent  Hose  Company "  was  organized  more 
recently,  and  does  efficient  duty  with  engine,  steamer,  or 
hydrant,  as  the  case  may  be,  when  its  services  are  needed. 
The  buildings  occupied  by  the  steam  fire-engine  "  Thomas 
Parsons,"  and  by  the  "  Good  Intent  Hose  Company"  are 
within  a  few  feet  of  the  spot  occupied  fifty-five  years  ago 
by  the  first  engine-house  in  town. 

THE  DANA  PLACE. 

Next  west  of  the  Leeds  place  on  the  north  side  of  the 
street,  was  formerly  the  Dana  place. 

This  included  all  that  is  now  the  town  land  about  the 
Public  Library  except  a  strip  a  few  feet  in  width,  next 
Mr.  Collins'  residence,  all  that  is  in  Mr.  John  Gibbs' 
lot,  except  a  few  feet  on  the  west  side,  and  on  School 
Street  the  house  lot  of  Mr.  Matthews.  There  were 
two  acres  and  a  half  in  the  place',  a  part  of  it  the  high- 
est and  steepest  part  of  the  hill  so  often  before  men- 
tioned. 

On  this  place  stood,  until  about  twenty-two  years  ago, 
an  ancient  house  dating  back  to  the  earlier  part  of  the  last 
century.  It  stood  about  twenty  feet  from  the  sidewalk, 
and  the  southeast  corner  of  it  was  directly  in  the  rear  of 
the  elm  tree  on  the  Library  grounds,  that  being  the  corner 
of  the  front  yard  of  the  old  house. 


THE   DANA   PLACE.  141 

It  was  two  stories  high,  three  rooms  long,  on  the  front, 
with  two  front  doors.  The  kitchen  was  in  the  centre 
between  the  two  front  doors.  An  immense  chimney,  or 
"  stack  of  chimneys,"  belonged  to  this  kitchen,  and  the 
east  room.  The  wide  and  deep  fire-place  would  accommo- 
date wood  of  cord  length,  and  an  enormous  crane  with 
hooks  and  trammels  was  suspended  within  it.  Looking  up 
from  below  one  could  see  the  open  sky,  and  snow  was 
sometimes  in  the  fire-place,  of  a  winter  morning. 

Two  brick  ovens,  one  in  the  chimney  back  and  the  other 
at  the  side,  furnished  ample  baking  facilities,  and  old 
fashioned  "  dressers  "  along  the  wall  served  instead  of  clos- 
ets. Here,  too,  were  "  the  whitewashed  wall  and  sag- 
ging beam,"  and  the  small,  old-fashioned  windows,  half 
sash,  through  which  the  light  came  dimly.  In  front  of  the 
house  were  peach  trees,  lilac  bushes,  and  two  very  large 
locust  trees,  the  great  roots  of  which  coiled  about  on  the 
sidewalk  like  huge  snakes.  Behind  the  house  was  an 
open  well  with  curb,  windlass,  and  bucket.  It  was  never 
known  to  fail  in  the  dryest  seasons,  and  the  water  was  of 
the  best  quality.  The  two  back  doors  of  the  house  opened 
out  upon  a  green  orchard  and  garden,  from  which  the 
hill  rose  steeply ;  and  the  fence  along  the  highest  ridge, 
which  separated  it  from  Mr.  Holden's  hill-pasture  where 
the  coasting  ground  used  to  be,  was  nearly  concealed  from 
view  by  a  natural  hedge  of  barberry  bushes  and  wild 
vines. 

The  same  house  stood  west  of  it  which  stands  now 
west  of  Mr.  Gibbs'  house. 

As  long  ago  as  1740  the  place  was  occupied  by  Nathan- 
iel Shepard,  who  afterwards  removed  to  Needham. 

After  this  the  house  was  owned  by  a  man  named  Jack- 
son, who  in  the  War  of  the  Revolution  was  on  the  side  of 
the  royal  cause,  and  made  himself  distasteful,  as  a  Tory. 


142  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  house  was  taken  as  barracks  for  the  colonial  troops 
during  the  siege  of  Boston,  at  which  the  unpatriotic  Mr. 
Jackson  was  so  disgusted  that  he  sold  it  as  speedily  as  pos- 
sible to  Mr.  Daniel  Dana,  then  living  at  Brighton  and 
engaged  in  supplying  the  British  troops  in  Boston  and  the 
harbor  with  meat. 

Mr.  Dana  came  to  live  in  the  house  we  are  describing, 
during  the  war,  after  the  evacuation  of  Boston  ;  and  from 
that  time  until  1848  the  house  was  in  possession  of  his 
family  and  known  by  his  name. 

"  Othello's  occupation  "  being  gone,  when  the  British 
troops  left,  it  became  necessary  to  look  about  for  new  bus- 
iness ;  and  as  Mr.  Dana  had  but  one  hand,  he  began  to 
keep  a  store  on  the  corner  of  School  Street,  and  kept  it 
as  long  as  he  lived.  There  is  one  person  still  living  in 
town  who  can  remember  going  to  this  store  to  buy  slate- 
pencils  as  long  ago  as  1795. 

Mr.  Dana  had  married  for  his  second  wife,  a  sister  of 
the  Rev.  Cotton  Brown,  the  second  minister  of  Brookline. 

A  son  of  Mr.  Dana  was  taken  prisoner  during  the  Rev- 
olution, by  the  British,  carried  to  England,  escaped  to 
France,  took  passage  in  a  ship  to  return  to  America,  and 
was  lost  at  sea.  There  was  no  one  left  of  the  family  after 
1803,  but  the  only  daughter,  Miss  Anna,  who  lived  till 
1847,  when  she  died  at  the  age  of  ninety-two,  and  it  is 
with  her  that  our  story  is  chiefly  concerned. 

After  the  death  of  her  father,  Miss  Dana  kept  a  few 
small  wares  for  sale  for  a  while,  using  the  east  room  of 
the  house  for  a  shop  ;  but  she  soon  discontinued  it,  and  re- 
serving the  two  easterly  apartments  for  herself  she  let  the 
rest  of  the  house  for  her  maintenance.  In  this  house  the 
writer  of  these  sketches  spent  ten  years  of  her  childhood. 

Miss  Anna  Dana  was  one  of  the  marked  characters  of 
Brookline  during  her  long  life,  and  her  eccentricities  were 


MISS   ANNA  DANA.  143 

so  frequently  spoken  of  and  dwelt  upon,  that  by  many 
persons  the  finer  qualities  of  her  mind  and  heart  were 
either  unknown  or  overlooked. 

She  had  been  an  indulged  and  petted  only  daughter, 
and  prided  herself  upon  always  having  had  her  own  way. 
Her  proclivities  were  strongly  in  favor  of  everything 
English,  and  her  admiration  for  the  royal  family  was  in- 
tense. She  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  battle  of  Bunker 
Hill,  from  a  house-top  in  Boston,  where  she  was  staying, 
she  being  then  twenty  years  of  age,  and  more  than  half 
a  Tory  probably. 

She  used  to  exhibit  with  great  pride  an  ancient  china 
bowl  within  which  was  inscribed,  "  Success  to  the  British 
Arms,"  and  tell  how  they  were  obliged  to  keep  it  hidden 
during  the  war.  All  events,  social  or  political,  which  met 
her  disapproval,  she  attributed  to  two  causes,  Sunday- 
schools  and  a  republican  form  of  government.  Not  that 
her  dislike  to  Sunday-schools  arose  from  want  of  respect 
for  religious  teachings,  but  they  were  an  innovation  ;  and 
she  would  not  allow  that  anything  modern  was  an  improve- 
ment or  an  advantage  over  the  ancient,  except  in  the  con- 
struction of  shoes  and  boots,  which  were  then  worn  without 
raised  heels.  Had  she  lived  to  see  in  these  days  the  revival 
of  the  ancient  fashion  which  she  so  detested,  she  would 
have  thought  modern  people  had  lost  their  last  and  only 
grain  of  common  sense. 

It  was  her  pride  and  boast  that  she  had  no  occasion  for 
the  services  of  a  doctor,  as  she  never  had  a  day's  illness 
sufficient  to  keep  her  in  bed,  or  need  to  consult  a  phy- 
sician for  seventy  years.  She  rose  and  retired  early, 
lived  plainly,  had  plenty  of  fresh  air,  and  ripe  fruit ;  and 
though  she  never  failed  to  warm  her  bed  with  a  long- 
handled  pan  of  wood  coals  every  night  in  winter,  she  kept 
her  attic  window  open  summer  and  winter,  for  forty  years. 


144  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

A  carpenter  who  repaired  the  roof,  had  once  told  her 
that  if  she  kept  that  window  open  she  would  live  to  be  a 
hundred  years  old.  Her  room  was  thus  kept  supplied 
with  fresh  air,  from  the  attic,  as  the  stairway  opened  into 
it ;  and  whether  the  carpenter's  advice  was  the  cause  of 
it  or  not,  she  possessed  vigorous  health  and  unimpaired 
faculties  till  she  was  nearly  ninety  years  of  age. 

At  that  time  there  was  sickness  in  the  house,  and  the 
rains  of  a  chilly  autumn  made  it  necessary  for  the  family 
occupying  the  house  to  have  it  closed.  No  persuasion  or 
entreaty  could  induce  the  old  lady  to  close  the  window  or 
allow  any  one  else  to  do  so.  No  one  had  seen  the  inside 
of  her  chamber  or  the  attic  for  half  a  century  but  herself, 
except  a  child,  and  she  was  determined  that  no  one 
should.  Those  who  knew  her  only  by  report  imagined 
she  had  money  or  valuables  stored  away  there,  and  that 
this  was  the  cause  of  her  reluctance  to  admit  any  one,  for 
she  said  that  she  could  not  close  the  window  herself,  it 
had  been  so  long  open,  which  very  likely  was  true,  it 
being  then  swollen  by  the  rain. 

The  doctor,  however,  said  the  window  must  be  closed 
at  any  risk  of  offense,  and  an  energetic  neighbor  came  to 
the  rescue.  Armed  with  hammer  and  nails  she  very  de- 
cidedly informed  the  enraged  old  lady  that  she  was  about 
to  do  the  audacious  deed,  and  up  stairs  she  went,  and 
through  the  secret  chamber,  into  the  forbidden  attic,  shut 
the  window  and  nailed  it  down,  and  for  once  the  discom- 
fited maiden  did  not  have  her  own  way. 

The  peculiarities  which  characterized  Miss  Anna  Dana, 
made  it  very  difficult  for  her  to  retain  tenants  in  her 
house  ;  and  until  the  last  ten  years  of  her  life  scarcely  a 
family  stayed  two  years  on  the  premises.  She  was  fre- 
quently alone  during  an  entire  winter,  even  after  she  be- 
came very  aged,  but  her  wonderful  pride  and  independ- 


MISS   ANNA   DANA.  145 

ence  carried  her  through  what  most  women  would  have 
shrunk  from  as  severe  hardship. 

There  was  a  standing  feud  between  her  and  all  boys. 
She  seemed  to  hate  them  with  all  the  energy  of  her  na- 
ture. She  "  did  not  see  where  all  the  children  came 
from,"  she  said  ;  "  they  were  thicker  than  oak  leaves," 
—  and  if  she  saw  two  boys  passing  by  peaceably  she 
went  to  the  door  and  called  to  them  sharply  not  to  shake 
her  fence,  or  throw  stones  at  her  house.  Of  course,  boy- 
nature  could  not  stand  that,  and  the  consequence  was 
that  her  fence  was  shaken  till  it  would  scarcely  stand 
alone,  her  windows  were  occasionally  broken,  her  doors 
were  tied  up  on  the  outside  in  nights,  her  bucket  would 
be  taken  from  the  well,  and  her  cats  were  persecuted. 
For,  hard  as  her  nature  seemed  toward  children,  she  was 
very  tender  and  loving  towards  her  feline  pets,  of  which 
she  had  at  one  time  more  than  a  dozen. 

Her  seeming  harshness  was  probably  the  result  chiefly 
of  her  solitary  and  single-handed  grapple  with  the  world 
for  so  many  years.  In  the  latter  part  of  her  life,  when 
there  was  a  permanent  tenant  to  protect  her  property, 
and  stand  between  her  and  the  boys,  she  softened  into  a 
much  more  pliable  mood  to  all  around  her.  There  was 
one  boy,  we  should  have  said,  now  a  Professor  at  Cam- 
bridge, whom  she  not  only  tolerated,  but  for  whom  she 
had  a  real  affection,  though  not  of  the  sort  which  mani- 
fests itself  in  caresses.  Her  test  of  a  child's  good  man- 
ners was  its  ability  to  enter  her  room  and  leave  it 
without  laying  a  hand  upon  her  highly  polished,  round, 
mahogany  table. 

There  are  many  persons  who  remember  that  east  room, 
with  its  white  floor,  well-sanded,  the  old-fashioned  desk 
with  its  piles  of  books,  the  long  mirror,  the  round  table 
in  the  centre  before  the  fire-place,  the  brass  andirons,  and 


146  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

the  two  ancient  chairs  on  either  side  of  the  fire,  covered 
with  tapestry  work,  imported  from  England,  which  had 
belonged  to  Governor  Hutchinson  of  colonial  times,  but 
in  each  of  which  now  sat  a  cat.  The  old  lady  herself 
always  sat  in  a  straight,  high-backed  chair  beside  the 
round  table,  on  which  she  never  laid  anything  but  her 
spectacles  or  a  newspaper. 

She  could  be  very  entertaining  when  she  chose,  for  her 
memory  was  wonderful  and  her  perceptions  very  clear ; 
and  to  talk  with  one  who  remembered  events  before  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  could  tell  of  what  was  done  in 
the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay  under  King  George's 
governors,  was  no  small  privilege. 

About  two  years  before  her  death,  when  she  was 
ninety  years  of  age,  she  grew  sick ;  but  true  to  her  old 
prejudice  she  would  not  allow  a  doctor  to  be  sent  for,  nor 
resort  to  any  remedies,  nor  even  allow  herself  to  be  in  a 
room  where  there  was  a  fire.  This  course  she  persisted 
in  till  she  became  helpless  and  others  assumed  the  respon- 
sibility and  controlled  her,  though  with  great  show  of  re- 
sistance on  her  part.  Her  iron  constitution  was  slow  in 
breaking  down,  but  after  being  confined  to  her  bed 
about  two  years  she  died  in  February,  1847,  aged  ninety- 
two  years  and  one  month,  the  last  of  her  race. 

There  was  not  a  human  being  of  even  the  most  distant 
kin  surviving,  to  follow  her  to  the  grave  or  drop  a  tear  to 
her  memory,  or  even  claim  the  poor  trifles  left  behind. 

The  forbidden  attic,  which  had  caused  so  much  curious 
conjecture,  contained  only  chests  and  boxes  of  old  books 
and  papers,  an  old  sword  and  cutlass,  and  a  few  articles 
unsold  in  the  stock  of  Mr.  Dana's  store,  such  as  pointed- 
toed  shoes,  cards  of  queer  buttons  and  buckles,  some  bon- 
nets, either  of  which  would  have  made  six  of  the  present 
fashion,  and  other  odds  and  ends,  but  nothing  of  any  in- 
trinsic value. 


MISS  ANNA   DANA.  147 

After  the  death  of  Miss  Dana  the  place  reverted  to 
Peter  C.  Brooks  of  Boston,  to  whom  it  had  been  mort- 
gaged during  her  father's  lifetime.  By  him  it  was  sold 
to  Timothy  Leeds,  son  of  James  Leeds,  and  the  house 
was  purchased  by  Mr.  Nathaniel  Lyford,  who  took  it 
down. 

The  elm  tree,  by  the  west  gate  of  the  Library  grounds, 
and  which  was  in  the  front  yard  of  the  Dana  house,  was 
Miss  Dana's  especial  pride  and  delight.  It  came  up  in 
the  east  corner  of  the  yard  about  sixty  years  ago,  and 
Miss  Dana  protected  it  the  first  summer  from  the  scythe 
of  the  mower,  by  turning  a  tub  over  it.  She  watered  it 
and  tended  it  with  care,  and  lived  to  sit  for  years  in  its 
shadow.  For  several  years  past  it  has  made  scarcely  any 
growth,  and  many  elms  much  younger  now  far  exceed  it 
in  size. 


148  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE     HALL     HOUSE.   —  THE    TOLMAN     HOUSE.  THE     CUOFT 

HOUSES. "BLACK    SUSY." MISS    HANNAH    ADAMS. DR. 

WILD. THE    BLAKE    PLACE. — THE    ASPINWALL    PLACE. 

THE  next  house  west  of  the  Dana  place  and  now  stand- 
ing on  the  corner  of  School  and  Washington  streets, 
though  built  some  time  before  the  Revolution,  has  been 
modernized  from  time  to  time  so  that  only  its  low  walls 
indicate  its  age.  It  was  occupied  some  years  after  the 
Revolutionary  War  by  a  Major  Thompson  of  Revolution- 
ary service.  It  is  said  of  the  Major  that  he  had  a  horse 
which  had  served  in  cavalry  during  the  war,  and  when  old 
and  stiff,  no  longer  in  use  as  a  working  animal,  the  sound 
of  a  bugle  would  so  inspirit  him  that  he  would  leap  the 
fence  and  prance  along  the  street  wholly  unmindful  of  his 
infirmities,  going  through  the  various  evolutions  with  per- 
fect precision.  It  was  during  the  Major's  residence  here 
that  Mr.  Dana  kept  his  shop  in  the  west  part  of  the  house. 

In  the  year  1796,  the  house  was  occupied  by  Zephion 
Thayer,  who  was  the  son  of  Captain  Jedediah  Thayer,  a 
Revolutionary  officer. 

Zephion  Thayer  died  in  this  town  in  1803.  The  dis- 
tinguished founder  of  Chauncy  Hall  School  in  Boston, 
and  for  twenty-five  years  its  principal,  was  his  son.  Gid- 
eon F.  Thayer  was  not  born  in  Brookline,  but  he  spent 
his  childhood  here,  and  so  great  was  his  love  for  Brook- 
line  that  he  used  to  say  he  would  have  been  born  here  if 
he  could. 


THE   TOLMAN   PLACE.  149 

After  the  death  of  Mr.  Thayer,  a  man  named  Leverett, 
a  wheelwright,  occupied  the  house  for  a  few  years. 

About  the  year  1805  or  1806,  Mr.  Benjamin  Davis,  who 
till  that  time  had  owned  all  the  land  on  the  south  side  of 
the  street  (excepting  the  corner  lot,  which  had  been  sold 
years  before),  had  a  public  sale  of  lots,  and  one  nearly 
opposite  the  Dana  place,  where  Mr.  William  Heath  now 
lives,  was  purchased  for  the  site  of  a  blacksmith's  shop. 
Mr.  Edward  Hall,  either  then  or  soon  after,  became  the 
owner  of  the  house  of  which  we  are  writing,  and  also  of 
the  shop  where  he  carried  on  the  blacksmith's  business  for 
many  years.  After  his  death  the  shop  was  let  for  the 
same  purpose  till  about  the  year  1850,  when  it  was  taken 
down. 

Mr.  Hall  had  a  large  family,  but  only  three  of  his  chil- 
dren now  survive,  and  of  these  not  one  is  settled  in  Brook- 
line. 

The  part  of  the  house  projecting  towards  the  west,  was 
built  in  modern  times,  and  covers  what  was  formerly  a 
pretty  corner  yard,  where  flowers  and  trees  relieved  the 
plainness  of  the  house.  In  front  was  a  row  of  tall  fir 
trees. 

The  opposite  corner,  formerly  called  the  Tolman  place, 
was  thickly  covered  with  barberry  bushes  ;  and  at  the 
time  Mr.  Jonas  Tolrnan  purchased,  was  offered  at  one 
hundred  dollars  for  the  lot,  about  an  acre  in  extent.  Mr. 
Tolman  said  he  would  never  give  one  hundred  dollars  for 
it ;  but  he  wanted  the  place  very  much,  and  finally  a  com- 
promise was  made,  and  he  paid  ninety-nine  dollars. 

Next  the  blacksmith  shop,  on  the  same  side  of  the 
street,  was  the  house  of  Mr.  Tolman,  who  was  a  shoe- 
maker. This  house,  like  the  Hall  house,  is  still  in  good 
preservation,  although  built  in  the  last  century.  Mr. 
Tolman  had  a  one-story  shop,  painted  red,  behind  his 


150  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

house,  and  during  his  lifetime  was  the  principal  shoe- 
maker of  Brookline. 

After  his  death  his  son  Charles  carried  on  the  business, 
and  built  the  shop  now  on  the  corner  of  Cypress  Street. 
The  land  belonging  to  this  corner  lot  was  much  more  ex- 
tensive formerly  than  at  present,  as  two  sales  have  been 
made  from  it  much  reducing  its  dimensions. 

The  grade  of  the  street  has  been  materially  changed 
between  the  two  houses  above  mentioned  and  about  the 
corner  of  Cypress  Street.  The  Hall  house  formerly  stood 
but  one  step  higher  than  the  sidewalk,  while  the  Tolman 
house  was  reached  by  three  steps  in  a  wall  at  the  edge  of 
the  front  yard  next  the  sidewalk. 

The  front  yard  of  this  house  was  so  filled  with  clumps 
of  lilac  and  syringa  as  nearly  to  conceal  the  lower  front  of 
the  house.  In  one  of  the  west  rooms  a  small  select  school 
was  kept  for  many  years  by  Miss  Rachael  Gushing ;  it 
enjoyed  an  excellent  reputation,  and  many  persons  look 
back  with  pleasure  to  pleasant  years  of  school-life  spent 
there.  The  Misses  Elizabeth  and  Mary  Peabody  (the 
latter  afterwards  became  Mrs.  Horace  Mann),  also 
taught  at  one  time  a  select  school  in  this  house. 

Mrs.  Tolman,  the  widow  of  Jonas  Tolman,  lived  to  a 
great  age,  and  her  long  life  was  nearly  all  one  of  active 
usefulness.  She  was  one  of  those  "  mothers  in  Israel "  who 
could  find  room  in  her  heart  and  home  for  almost  every- 
body, though  her  life  had  many  and  great  sorrows.  If  a 
friendless  teacher  needed  a  boarding-place,  or  a  wander- 
ing student  a  home,  if  a  widow  had  a  child  whom  she 
must  board  out,  if  a  family  by  some  domestic  emergency 
needed  apartments  for  a  week  or  a  month,  Mrs.  Tolman 
would  find  room  somewhere  in  her  house.  If  a  female 
prayer  meeting,  or  a  maternal  society,  or  sewing  society, 
or  anything  else  with  a  good  object  in  view,  wanted  ac- 


THE  NEW  CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCH.        151 

commodations,  Mrs.  Tolman's  parlor  was  open.  In  her 
old  age  this  good  woman  became  wholly  blind,  but  she 
bore  her  privation  with  wonderful  patience  and  cheerful 
fortitude  till  released  by  death  from  darkness  and  pain. 

The  opposite  corner  of  School  Street  was  a  part  of  the 
Craft  farm.  It  was  separated  from  the  streets  by  a  low 
stone  wall  and  within  it  were  two  or  three  apple  trees. 
It  sloped  steeply  down  to  the  brook  at  the  bottom  of  the 
meadow,  and  was  a  good  coasting  place  in  winter  for  chil- 
dren not  venturesome  enough  to  try  the  steep  north  side 
of  Holden's  Hill. 

Until  the  year  1844  there  were  but  two  churches  in 
Brookline,  the  Unitarian  and  Baptist.  The  families  of 
Orthodox  Congregationalists  either  worshipped  with  the 
Baptists  or  were  united  with  the  more  distant  societies  of 
Brighton  and  Roxbury. 

In  1843  steps  were  taken  to  unite  these  various  inter- 
ests in  one  society,  and  secure  a  place  to  build  a  church. 
The  corner  lot,  then  owned  by  the  late  Samuel  Crafts, 
was  secured  for  that  purpose,  and  in  1844  the  present 
church  edifice  was  built.  It  was  dedicated  August  20 
the  same  year,  and  a  church  of  twenty-eight  persons  was 
formed.  In  May  of  the  following  year  Rev.  R.  S.  Storrs, 
Jr.,  was  invited  to  become  the  pastor.  He  was  installed 
the  following  October.  In  a  little  more  than  a  year  Mr. 
Storrs  was  called  to  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  where  he  has  ever 
since  labored  as  pastor  of  the  Church  of  the  Pilgrims. 
Since  then  the  church  has  had  five  pastors :  Rev.  Joseph 
Haven,  Rev.  M.  M.  Smith,  Rev.  J.  L.  Diman,  Rev.  C.  C. 
Carpenter,  and  Rev.  C.  M.  Wines. 

The  material  prosperity  of  this  society  is  sufficiently 
indicated  by  its  enterprise  in  building  the  elegant  stone 
edifice  on  the  corner  of  Harvard  and  Marion  streets,  and 
the  subsequent  sale  of  the  old  building  to  the  Methodists 
in  the  spring  of  1873. 


152  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

THE  CROFT   HOUSES. 

Nearly  opposite  the  Methodist  Church,  on  the  corner  of 
Washington  and  Cypress  streets,  stands  now  the  ancient 
gambrel-roofed  house  which  was  occupied  in  1740  by 
Captain  Samuel  Croft.  How  long  it  had  then  been  built 
we  have  not  ascertained,  but  afterwards  it  was  the  prop- 
erty of  Dr.  Aspinwall.  The  house  has  been  occupied 
during  the  last  hundred  years  by  successive  families, 
till  they  would  form  quite  a  host  in  the  aggregate.  In 
1805  or  1806,  it  took  fire  in  the  roof  and  narrowly  es- 
caped destruction. 

Captain  Croft  was  born  in  1700.  The  land,  it  will  be 
recollected  by  those  who  have  read  these  historical  papers 
thus  far,  on  both  sides  of  the  street  in  this  locality,  was 
very  early  in  the  town's  history  a  part  of  the  Cotton 
estate. 

From  the  Cottons  a  part  of  it  came  into  possession  of 
the  Sharps,  and  from  them  to  the  Crofts. 

The  elder  Captain  Samuel  Croft  built  in  1765  a  large 
house  on  the  north  side  of  the  street,  in  what  is  now  the 
garden  of  T.  P.  Chandler,  Esq.,  a  rod  or  two  west  of  the 
house. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  in  1771  it  was  owned  by  his 
son,  Captain  Samuel  Croft,  Jr.,  who  married  into  the 
Sharp  family.  With  this  house  was  included  as  the 
Croft  farm  all  that  part  of  the  Sharp  farm  from  the 
corner  of  School  Street  to  a  point  nearly  up  to  the  pres- 
ent residence  of  Thomas  Griggs,  Jr.,  and  extending  back 
to  Stephen  Sharps'  part  of  the  farm. 

Captain  Croft's  house  was  a  large,  square,  two-story 
house,  with  a  spacious  front  yard,  well  filled  with  trees 
and  shrubbery.  Behind  the  house  was  a  deep  ravine,  and 
here  was  a  spring  of  cold  and  excellent  water,  over- 
shadowed by  two  very  large  button  wood  trees. 


SUSY   BACKUS.  153 

An  old  barn  stood  opposite  the  house  on  the  site  of 
Mrs.  Crafts'  present  residence,  and  there  for  some  time 
was  kept  the  hearse,  until  a  permanent  place  was  pro- 
vided for  it  near  the  Unitarian  Church.  In  more  recent 
times  a  large  barn  stood  east  of  the  house  on  the  same 
side  of  the  street. 

The  old  couple  had  no  children,  and  they  adopted  a 
member  of  the  Davis  family,  a  lovely  girl,  whose  name 
was  Sarah.  She  had  a  fine  voice,  and  her  singing  at  the 
dedication  of  Brookline  meeting-house  *  in  1806  was  the 
occasion  of  much  commendation. 

This  young  lady  died  in  1808.  It  was  during  the  fatal 
illness  of  Miss  Sarah,  that  the  hearse  was  brought,  to  be 
kept  in  the  barn  opposite ;  and  Mrs.  Croft,  almost  super- 
stitious in  the  matter  of  signs  and  omens,  feared  that  her 
adopted  daughter  should  know  it.  It  might  perhaps  have 
been  unpleasantly  suggestive,  but  the  young  lady  is  said 
to  have  been  "  a  lovely  Christian,"  who  had  no  fears  or 
weak  dread  of  a  change  which  to  such  as  she  would 
bring  only  release  and  joy. 

The  energy  of  three  or  four  generations  of  Sharps  con- 
centrated in  Mrs.  or  Madame  Croft,  as  she  was  often 
called,  and  she  carried  sway  with  a  high  hand.  If  the 
Scriptural  doctrine  that  "  it  is  good  for  a  man  that  he 
bear  the  yoke  in  his  youth,"  is  to  be  understood  literally, 
there  were  and  are  those  who  derived  great  good  from  a 
residence  in  this  household.  At  least  they  bore  "  the 
yoke  "  there,  according  to  unquestionable  testimony. 

Perhaps  the  most  distinctly  remembered  personage  of 
this  household,  inasmuch  as  she  lived  the  longest,  and 
was  a  marked  character,  was  an  old  colored  woman 
named  Susy  Backus.  We  say  old  because  she  called  her- 
self fifty,  for  about  forty  years,  and  neither  she  nor  any 

*  Then  the  only  one  in  town, 
11 


154  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

one  else  knew  her  age  ;  but  she  was  a  young  girl  when 
taken  into  the  Croft  house  as  servant,  and  here  for  board 
and  clothes  she  rendered  such  service  as  money  cannot 
buy,  during  the  lifetime  of  her  master  and  mistress. 

It  has  often  been  said  by  Brookline  people  that  Susy 
was  a  slave,  but  this  was  not  the  case.  Her  father  was  a 
kidnapped  African  who  served  a  blacksmith  in  Dorchester, 
and  was  called  by  his  name,  Backus.  After  the  death  of 
the  blacksmith,  the  negro  kept  on  with  the  business  in 
the  same  shop,  but  assumed  the  more  aristocratic  and  im 
posing  title  of  "  Mr.  Cleveland." 

There  was  a  poor  Indian  woman  living  in  Brookline 
by  the  name  of  Molly  Hill,  and  "  Mr.  Cleveland  "  re- 
lieved his  solitude  and  perhaps  added  to  his  importance 
by  marrying  her. 

Susy  was  the  child  of  this  marriage,  but  somehow  the 
name  of  Cleveland  would  not  stick  to  her,  and  she  was 
always  known  as  Susy  Backus. 

Susy  was  cook,  chambermaid,  milkmaid,  hostler,  and 
gardener  for  the  Croft  family.  In  fact  her  service  was  only 
limited  by  the  fact  that  there  are  but  twenty-four  hours 
in  the  day,  and  that  poor  humanity  must  sleep  sometime. 
She  shoveled  snow  in  winter  and  gathered  vegetables  in 
summer  which  her  own  hands  had  planted  in  spring. 

The  Captain  had  a  white  horse  and  an  old-fashioned, 
square,  standing-top  chaise,  a  most  cumbrous  "  one-hoss 
shay,"  which  had  done  duty  from  time  immemorial ;  — 
also  it  came  to  pass  that  in  later  years  he  possessed  a  new 
and  most  respectable  vehicle  for  those  times. 

So  when  there  had  been  a  rain  on  Saturday,  Susy  was 
sent  out  on  Sunday  morning  to  run  the  length  of  "  the 
new  lane,"  as  Cypress  Street  was  then  called,  to  see  if  the 
mud  was  deep  enough  to  imperil  the  respectability  of  the 
new  chaise,  and  on  her  report,  to  the  one  vehicle  or  the 


SUSY    BACKUS.  155 

other  the  white  horse  was  harnessed  to  convey  master  and 
mistress  to  u  Brookline  meeting-housa." 

Susy's  seat  was  in  "  the  negro  pew,"  a  high  and  nar- 
row place  above  the  singer's  gallery  in  the  old  meeting- 
house where  Dr.  Pierce  preached.  She  was  the  last 
person  who  occupied  that  place. 

Captain  Croft  died  in  1814.  In  1818  Dr.  Charles  Wild, 
then  a  young  beginner  in  the  practice  of  medicine,  came 
to  Brookline  and  took  up  his  abode  with  Madame  Croft. 
He  became  quite  a  favorite  with  the  old  lady,  and  at  her 
death  a  few  years  later,  she  gave  him  two  acres  of  land 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street. 

To  Susy  she  left  two  hundred  dollars  ;  and  the  money 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Dr.  Pierce  as  her  guardian. 

Mr.  Croft  also  left  provision  in  his  will  "  for  support- 
ing and  maintaining  in  sickness  and  in  health  but  not  in 
idleness,  except  when  past  labor,  my  faithful  servant 
Susanna  Backus  during  her  life." 

The  old  Croft  house  was  let  for  several  years,  and  then 
sold  to  Mr.  John  Kendrick,  who  lived  in  it  a  short  time. 
He  then  left  town,  and  when  the  estate  was  sold  to  Mr. 
Chandler,  the  old  house  Avas  moved  to  Thayer  Place, 
where  it  still  serves  the  purpose  of  a  tenement  house. 

The  farm  became  the  property  of  Mr.  Samuel  Crafts, 
who  was  Mrs.  Croft's  nephew.  From  the  Croft  family 
Susy  went  to  Mrs.  Downer,  formerly  a  Wyman,  who  was 
a  daughter-in-law  of  the  Dr.  Downer  in  the  Punch  Bowl 
Village,  and  in  this  family  she  lived  thirty-nine  years, 
rendering  devoted  service. 

With  the  intense  loyalty  of  her  race  she  identified  her- 
self with  them  and  theirs,  and  no  labor  was  too  hard  or 
sacrifice  too  great  for  her  to  make  for  them.  And  her 
fidelity  was  appreciated.  Though  her  voice  was  rough, 
and  harsher  than  that  of  men  in  general,  and  her  physi- 


156  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

ognomy  would  have  delighted  the  heart  of  Darwin, 
though  for  years  and  years  she  was  bent  almost  double, 
so  that  it  was  a  marvel  how  she  could  walk  at  all,  she 
never  looked  repulsive  or  even  unlovable  to  the  children 
and  grand-children  of  the  household. 

Yet  there  was  a  picturesqueness  about  her  as  she 
walked  to  church  on  a  Sunday  morning  in  her  white 
dress  with  a  bright  flower  pinned  upon  the  bosom,  her 
handkerchief  carefully  folded  outside  her  book  and  a  large 
fan  in  her  hand.  She  made  regular  visits  in  some  of  the 
most  respectable  old  families  of  Brookline  ;  those  at  some 
little  distance,  like  Deacon  Clark's,  for  instance,  she  called 
her  foreign  visits,  and  at  certain  houses  she  was  always 
invited  to  tea  with  the  family. 

When  she  grew  too  old  and  infirm  to  walk  to  Dr. 
Pierce's  church  she  went  to  the  Baptist,  and  in  both 
churches  she  was  treated  with  marked  courtesy  and  con- 
sideration. Indeed  no  one  was  ever  disrespectful  to  Susy, 
except  rude  boys  in  the  village,  who  sometimes  called 
after  her,  or  occasionally  threw  a  stone,  because  she  was 
old,  and  black,  and  crooked. 

But  a  beautiful  soul  dwelt  in  the  uncomely  body. 
Truth,  and  justice,  and  kindly  charity  were  her  charac- 
teristics ;  and  the  singing  of  the  earliest  bird  and  the 
blooming  of  the  first  daffy  in  spring  called  out  her  in- 
nocent delight.  She  had  been  taught  to  read,  and  her 
well  worn  and  much  used  Testament  gave  evidence  of 
faithful  perusal. 

At  last  the  time  came  when  the  provision  made  for  her 
in  the  Croft  will  was  needed,  and  the  money  was  paid 
semi-annually  as  long  as  she  lived. 

For  several  years  before  her  death  Susy  was  entirely 
blind,  cataracts  having  grown  over  both  eyes.  She  still 
lived  on,  in  the  family  of  Mrs.  Hancock  (the  daughter 


MISS   HANNAH   ADAMS.  157 

of  Mrs.  Downer),  her  efforts  to  help  often  a  hindrance, 
and  the  infirmities  of  her  great  age  making  her  a  cease- 
less care  ;  but  she  was  not  disposed  of  in  hospital  or  poor- 
house,  as  was  suggested  by  some  advisers,  for  her  love  and 
devotion  in  her  better  days  forbade  the  thought  of  such 
a  requital.  So  she  felt  her  way  about  the  familiar  house, 
and  was  indulged  in  her  pet  whims,  which  were  few,  a 
handful  of  peppermints  and  a  glass  of  rum  once  a  day 
being  her  luxuries. 

After  a  four  weeks'  illness  she  died  in  1863,  probably 
eighty-four  years  of  age,  if  not1  older,  judging  from  her 
recollection  of  ancient  events.  To  the  very  last  her  hear- 
ing was  acute  and  her  love  of  life  strong.  The  old  Croft 
tomb  in  Brookline  cemetery,  which  had  not  been  unclosed 
for  nearly  forty  years,  was  opened  to  receive  the  body, 
worn  out  with  a  long  life  of  toil  for  others,  —  and  then 
closed  up  forever. 

Who  shall  doubt  that  her  white  soul  was  welcomed  in 
the  better  land  with  a  "  Well  done,  thou  good  and  faithful 
servant." 

After  the  death  of  Mrs.  Croft,  the  house  was  occupied 
by  Mrs.  Walley,  formerly  of  Walnut  Street,  and  with 
her,  boarded  in  the  latter  part  of  her  life,  Miss  Hannah 
Adams,  a  literary  lady  of  much  celebrity  at  that  time, 
who  is  well  remembered  by  many  persons  now  living, 
and  whose  memory  deserves  to  be  kept  green. 

Miss  Adams  was  a  native  of  Medfield  in  this  State, 
but  spent  most  of  her  life  in  Boston  and  vicinity.  In  her 
childhood  her  father  was  in  comfortable  if  not  affluent 
circumstances,  but  his  failure  and  loss  of  property  and 
the  early  death  of  her  mother,  threw  Miss  Hannah  upon 
her  own  resources. 

She  was  of  a  sensitive  and  delicate  organization,  and 
apparently  little  calculated  by  nature  to  grapple  with  the 


158  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BKOOKLINK. 

world,  but  like  many  others  of  her  sex  who  do  not  care  to 
battle  for  rights,  and  desire  no  right  but  that  of  filling 
some  domestic  niche  peacefully  and  honorably,  she  was 
forced  to  an  energy  not  natural  to  her  and  developed 
talents  and  resources  of  which  her  friends  would  have 
scarcely  supposed  her  to  be  the  possessor. 

In  her  childhood  she  had  few  advantages.  She  was 
too  feeble  in  health  to  attend  school,  but  she  learned  to 
read  at  home,  and  devoured  volumes  of  poetry  and  novels, 
which  she  said  in  after  years,  made  her  keenly  sensitive 
to  the  evils  of  life,  but  gave  her  no  strength  and  vigor  of 
mind  to  rise  above  them  or  overcome  them. 

When  it  became  necessary  for  her  to  maintain  her- 
self, or  partly  do  so,  she  learned  to  weave  bobbin  lace. 
This  was  in  the  Revolution,  and  as  soon  as  the  war  was 
over  all  demand  for  such  a  home-made  fabric  ceased. 
She  tried  straw-braiding,  and  other  feminine  employ- 
ments, but  the  profits  were  but  slight,  and  wholly  inade- 
quate for  support. 

She  taught  a  country  school  a  few  summers,  but  her 
health  could  not  bear  such  a  strain  upon  her  vital  pow- 
ers, and  she  relinquished  this  employment.  In  the  mean 
time,  however,  some  literary  gentlemen  who  boarded  at 
her  father's,  taught  her  at  her  own  request  Latin  and 
Greek,  which  it  was  then  considered  the  height  of  folly 
for  a  woman  to  spend  her  time  in  learning. 

About  this  time  she  became  accidentally  interested  in 
the  points  of  difference  between  different  forms  of  relig- 
ious belief,  and  was  led  to  read  all  the  works  treating  of 
various  denominations,  which  were  available.  The  result 
of  this  was  her  writing  a  book  called  "  View  of  Religion." 
Speaking  of  her  reading,  preparatory  to  writing  this 
work,  she  says  she  soon  became  disgusted  with  the  want 
of  candor  in  the  authors  consulted,  "  in  giving  the  most 


MISS   HANNAH   ADAMS.  159 

unfavorable  descriptions  of  the  denominations  they  dis- 
liked, and  applying  to  them  the  names  of  heretics,  fanat- 
ics, bigots,  enthusiasts,  etc."  It  is  one  of  the  cheering 
signs  of  progress  in  society  that  the  bitter  hatred  once  ex- 
isting between  rival  sects  is  now  modified  to  kindly  toler- 
ance, which  offers  ground  for  hope  that  some  future  day 
may  find  many  of  them  uniting  upon  one  common  ground 
of  faith  and  hope. 

Miss  Adams'  work  went  through  several  editions  and 
brought  her  a  moderate  compensation.  In  the  hope  of 
larger  pecuniary  success  she  wrote  after  this,  a  "  History  of 
New  England,"  there  being  at  that  time  only  two  works  of 
the  kind  extant,  Mather's  "  Magnalia  "  and  Neale's  "  His- 
tory," neither  of  which  carne  down  to  the  American  Revo- 
lution. It  was  a  laborious  task,  involving  much  perusal 
of  old  manuscripts  and  other  close  investigation,  and  some 
journey  ings.  Before  the  work  was  completed  her  eyes 
failed,  and  for  two  years  she  was  totally  debarred  from 
all  use  of  them  in  reading,  writing,  or  any  close  applica- 
tion, and  it  appeared  that  all  literary  work  must  be  aban- 
doned forever.  She  however  so  far  recovered  the  use  of 
them,  under  skillful  medical  treatment  by  Dr.  Jeffries  of 
Boston,  that  she  could  make  a  moderate  use  of  them  and 
completed  her  work. 

As  there  was  no  history  of  our  country  at  that  time 
adapted  to  schools,  Miss  Adams  intended  to  abridge  her 
work  and  adapt  it  to  school  uses.  But  in  this  she  was 
anticipated  by  a  clergyman  who  stepped  between  her  and 
her  prosperity  and  reaped  the  benefits. 

In  the  mean  time  her  History  was  well  received  and  met 
with  a  large  sale.  But  through  some  unfortunate  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  the  printing  and  publishing 
she  received  but  little  profit  for  all  this  labor. 

Her  next  work  was  a  "  History  of  the  Jews,"  a  care- 


160  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

fully  prepared  work  which  occupied  several  years,  and 
afterwards  she  wrote  a  little  volume  entitled  "  Letters 
on  the  Gospels."  It  was  so  unusual  a  thing  in  those  days 
for  an  American  woman  to  read  the  dead  languages  or 
attempt  authorship  that  Miss  Adams  was  looked  upon  by 
uneducated  persons  as  a  sort  of  human  phenomenon,  a 
curiosity  to  be  gazed  at  and  criticized.  Her  works  were 
of  solid  worth,  yet  the  compensation  she  received  for  them 
all  was  trifling,  compared  probably  to  what  a  modern 
novel-writer  receives  for  a  sensation  story. 

She  would  have  suffered  in  old  age  from  want,  but  for 
the  kindly  thoughtfulness  and  generosity  of  a  few  gentle- 
men and  ladies,  who  admired  her  talents  and  loved  her 
for  her  personal  worth.  These  settled  an  annuity  upon 
her  which  made  her  declining  years  comfortable,  and  filled 
her  warm  heart  with  the  liveliest  gratitude. 

The  Hon.  Josiah  Quincy,  Stephen  Higginson,  and 
William  Shaw,  were  the  principal  movers  in  this  gener- 
ous deed. 

The  Rev.  Joseph  Buckminster,  his  successor  Rev.  Mr. 
Thacher,  and  other  eminent  clergymen  and  authors  were 
her  personal  friends,  and  her  correspondents  both  in  this 
country  and  abroad  were  people  of  eminence.  The  elder 
President  Adams  in  writing  to  her  once  said  :  — 

"  You  and  I  are  undoubtedly  related  by  birth  ;  and  although 
we  were  both  born  in  obscurity,  yet  I  presume  neither  of  us 
have  any  occasion  to  regret  that  circumstance.  If  I  could  ever 
suppose  that  family  pride  was  in  any  case  excusable,  I  should 
think  a  descent  from  a  line  of  virtuous,  independent,  New 
England  farmers,  for  one  hundred  and  sixty  years,  was  a  better 
foundation  for  it  than  a  descent  through  royal  or  titled  scoun- 
drels ever  since  the  flood." 

There  are  various  anecdotes  extant  respecting  Miss 
Adams'  little  peculiarities,  most  of  which  rose  from 


MISS  ADAMS'  PECULIARITIES.  161 

extreme  sensitiveness  and  diffidence  or  underrating  of 
herself.  Some  however  grew  out  of  her  lack  of  knowl- 
edge of  most  common  things,  her  attention  having  been 
always  so  absorbed  by  books,  and  some  from  a  singular 
absence  of  mind,  or  concentration  on  one  subject  to  the 
exclusion  of  all  others. 

Dr.  Pierce  used  to  relate  an  incident  of  her  which  was 
characteristic.  She  stayed  all  night  in  a  friend's  house  and 
slept  in  a  room  where  in  the  morning  for  the  first  time 
she  saw  a  knob  instead  of  a  latch  upon  the  chamber  door. 
Having  made  her  toilet  she  tried  te  open  the  door,  but 
the  knob  refused  to  pull  out  or  push  in,  or  lift  up  or  go 
down.  It  never  occurred  to  her  to  try  to  turn  it,  so  she 
labored  at  the  refractory  thing,  till  finding  it  all  in  vain 
she  sat  down  and  waited  till  a  maid-servant  finally  came 
and  let  her  out. 

The  anecdote  of  her  forgetfulness  about  her  baggage 
in  travelling  is  perhaps  too  familiar  to  be  repeated  here, 
yet  it  may  be  new  to  young  readers.  A  gentleman  was 
very  desirous  of  making  her  acquaintance,  having  heard 
that  her  conversation  was  highly  interesting.  Learning 
that  she  was  to  ride  in  a  stage-coach  on  a  certain  day,  he 
also  took  passage  in  the  same.  But  in  vain  he  tried  to 
draw  her  into  conversation.  She  seemed  oblivious  to 
everything  about  her,  but  kept  repeating  to  herself, 
"  Great  trunk,  little  trunk,  band-box,  and  bundle,"  a  for- 
mula with  which  her  friends  had  charged  her  memory, 
because  she  was  so  apt  to  be  wholly  unmindful  of  her 
possessions. 

A  hack  was  called  to  take  her  home  from  some  place 
in  Boston,  where  she  had  been  visiting  for  the  day.  She 
was  at  that  time  boarding  with  a  Mr.  Perkins  in  Leverett 
Street,  but  she  told  the  driver  to  carry  her  to  Mr.  Lev- 
erett's  in  Perkins  Street.  The  man  drove  about  Boston 


162  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BKOOKLINE. 

till  eleven  o'clock  in  the  evening  trying  to  find  Perkins 
Street.  He  could  get  no  further  information  from  his 
absent-minded  passenger,  and  at  last  drove  back  to  the 
stable  to  ask  his  employer  what  was  the  next  thing  to  be 
done.  The  stable-keeper  went  out  and  looked  into  the 
carriage.  "  Oh,  that's  Miss  Hannah  Adams,"  said  he, 
"  carry  her  to  Mr.  Perkins'  in  Leverett  Street,"  and  so 
at  last  the  estray  was  deposited  in  safe  quarters. 

The  librarian  at  the  Athenaeum  often  found  it  impos- 
sible to  get  her  away  from  the  library  when  it  was  to  be 
locked  up  at  the  dinner  hour,  and  so  was  obliged  to  lock 
her  in,  and  leave  her  there  during  his  absence.  On  his 
return  he  found  her  so  absorbed  with  her  reading  that 
she  did  not  even  know  that  he  had  been  out. 

She  was  considered  by  some  as  eccentric,  and  by  many 
as  a  sort  of  walking  Greek  dictionary,  or  an  animated 
History  of  the  Jews,  yet  she  was  as  simple-hearted  and 
affectionate  as  a  child,  and  was  dearly  beloved  by  those 
who  cultivated  her  acquaintance  enough  to  overcome  her 
natural  diffidence. 

She  wrote  her  last  letter  from  one  of  the  large,  sunny 
front  chambers  in  the  old  Croft  house,  in  November,  1831. 
Tn  it  she  says  to  her  friend,  "  I  need  not  inform  you,  and 
I  am  unable  to  express,  how  much  pleasure  it  would  give 
me  to  see  you  in.  Brookline.  The  lady  with  whom  I 
board  is  all  goodness." 

She  perfectly  delighted  in  the  sunshine  and  the  beau- 
tiful prospect  from  the  pleasant  apartment,  so  in  contrast 
to  the  closeness  and  limited  range  of  a  Boston  house. 
"  How  can  any  one  be  tired  of  such  a  beautiful  world  ?  " 
she  said  to  a  friend  who  called  upon  her,  as  she  pointed 
out  the  beauties  of  the  scenery. 

She  died  the  same  winter,  at  Mrs.  Walley's,  at  the  age 
of  seventy-six.  A  portrait  of  her  in  her  close  white  cap, 


DR.    CHARLES   WILD.  163 

and  lawn  handkerchief,  not  unlike  a  Quaker's  garb,  can 
be  seen  in  the  Boston  Athena3um. 

Miss  Adams  was  one  of  the  first  persons  buried  in 
Mount  Auburn  Cemetery.  Her  memoir,  begun  by  her- 
self, but  finished  after  her  death  by  a  friend,  is  in  our 
Public  Library. 

Opposite  the  residence  of  Mr.  Chandler,  on  the  site  of 
the  barn  before  mentioned  as  belonging  to  the  Croft 
place,  Mr.  Samuel  Crafts  built  the  house,  which  is  still 
standing,  somewhat  more  than  thirty  years  ago. 

Mr.  Crafts  was  a  native  of  Brookline,  and  lived  in  the 
southwest  part  of  the  town  in  his  early  years,  then  re- 
sided several  years  in  the  house  formerly  owned  and 
occupied  by  his  uncle,  Stephen  Sharp,  and  finally  built 
the  one  above  alluded  to,  in  which  he  resided  till  his 
death  in  1856.  Mr.  Crafts  was  very  active  in  establishing 
the  Congregational  Society  in  this  town,  and  was  an  in- 
fluential man  in  the  church. 

The  next  place  west  was  the  house-lot  of  two  acres 
which  was  given  to  Dr.  Charles  Wild.  Dr.  Wild  was  so 
thoroughly  identified  with  Brookline  for  over  forty  years 
that  his  name  is  a  household  word.  It  is  hardly  possible 
to  prepare  a  satisfactory  sketch  of  a  man  whose  biography 
should  be  fully  written  by  some  able  pen,  or  to  describe 
him  as  he  was  known  among  his  patients  so  that  those 
who  never  saw  him  can  have  any  adequate  idea  of  him. 

Dr.  Wild  was  born  in  Boston  in  January,  1795.  He 
was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College  of  the  class  of  1814. 
Dr.  Walker,  late  President  of  Harvard,  Judge  (Pliny) 
Merrick,  W.  H.  Prescott,  the  historian,  and  other  eminent 
men  were  his  classmates. 

In  the  year  1818,  when  Dr.  Charles  Wild  came  to 
Brookline,  Dr.  Aspinwall,  the  skillful  and  beloved  phy- 
sician of  the  town  and  vicinity  for  many  years,  was  in 


164  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

the  decline  of  life,  and  his  son  the  young  doctor  had  just 
been  removed  by  death.  A  good  field  for  practice  was 
open,  and  the  Doctor  began  business  under  favorable  cir- 
cumstances, and  soon  made  for  himself  a  name  and  repu- 
tation. He  built  his  house,  married  young,  and  reared 
a  large  family  of  children. 

The  Doctor  was  of  course  in  those  days  a  practitioner 
of  the  old  school.  People  thought  they  had  not  their 
money's  worth  of  service  from  a  doctor  unless  they  swal- 
lowed physic  in  fearful  doses,  and  were  blistered  and  bled 
within  a  small  fraction  of  their  lives,  and  Dr.  Wild  was 
"  equal  to  the  occasion." 

Those  who  can  remember  the  Doctor  in  his  prime,  can 
well  recall  his  tall,  well-formed  figure,  his  firm  tread,  his 
deep  voice  which  seemed  to  come  from  cavernous  depths, 
and  the  eyes  which  seemed  to  look  from  behind  his  spec- 
tacles into  and  through  one. 

If  there  was  occasion  to  send  for  him,  unless  the  case 
was  represented  as  a  matter  of  life  and  death,  the  chances 
were  even  that  he  might  not  appear  till  the  patient  either 
died  or  recovered,  unless  the  call  were  repeated  two  or 
three  times.  Not  that  the  Doctor  was  intentionally  heed- 
less or  neglectful  of  his  patients  when  he  found  them 
very  severely  sick,  but  the  difficulty  was  to  find  him,  and 
get  the  impression  made  that  he  was  actually  needed. 
In  serious  cases  he  was  devotedly  attentive,  and  so  great 
was  the  public  confidence  in  him  that  in  ordinary  illnesses 
people  would  wait  his  tardy  attention  rather  than  send 
for  another  physician.  It  was  quite  as  likely  to  be  a 
successful  hunt  for  him,  to  go  through  the  streets  and 
look  for  "  old  Sal,"  his  sorrel  mare,  and  the  familiar  old 
buggy  before  some  house  door,  as  to  go  to  his  house  for 
him,  for  he  had  a  way  of  going  from  one  patient  to 
another  for  a  day  and  a  night  or  more,  without  going 


DR.    CHARLES   WILD.  165 

home,  getting  a  lunch  at  one  house  and  a  nap  in  another, 
particularly  if  there  was  much  sickness. 

He  had  a  breezy  way  of  entering  a  house,  stamping 
off  the  snow  or  dust  with  noise  enough  for  three  men, 
throwing  off  his  overcoat,  untying  a  huge  muffler  that  he 
wore  about  his  neck,  and  letting  down  his  black  leather 
pouch  with  emphasis.  There  was  an  indescribable  noise 
he  made  sometimes  with  that  deep  gruff  voice  of  his 
which  cannot  be  represented  in  type.  It  must  have  been 
heard  to  be  understood,  and  the  first  salutation  was  quite 
likely  to  be  (if  the  patient  were  an  acquaintance), 
"  Well !  well !  well !  what  kind  of  a  kick-up  have  you 
got  now  ?  "  If  the  patient  was  an  infant  it  might  be 
"  How  's  Nicodemus  to-day  ?  "  or,  "  Well !  is  Ichabod's 
tooth  ready  for  the  lance  this  morning  ?  "  His  fancy  for 
nicknames  was  proverbial.  He  usually  called  a  friend's 
child  Avhose  name  was  Florence,  either  "  Rome,"  "  Milan," 
or  some  other  Italian  city.  A  charge  upon  his  books  of 
a  visit  to  "  Don  Sebastian,"  rather  nonplussed  the  mem- 
ber of  his  family  who  was  to  make  out  the  bills.  On 
inquiry  it  proved  his  nickname  for  a  member  of  the 
Cabot  family. 

And  who  that  ever  saw  the  solemn  deliberation  with 
which  he  stirred  thick  yellow  powders  into  molasses  in  a 
table  spoon,  silently,  with  an  ominous  glance  occasionally 
at  the  hapless  victim  who  lay  waiting  for  the  order  to 
open  his  mouth,  will  think  of  them  without  a  recoil  ? 
When  one  thinks,  in  the  light  of  modern  science,  of  the 
fearful  potions  of  calomel,  rhubarb,  and  jalap,  picra, 
ipecac,  and  antimony,  and  countless  other  abominations, 
swallowed  by  hopeless  humanity  in  former  times,  the 
chief  wonder  is  that  any  lived  to  tell  the  tale. 

When  the  business  was  transacted,  and  there  was  no 
special  anxiety,  then  the  Doctor  settled  himself  to  be 


1GC  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINK. 

sociable,  and  there  he  stayed  often  for  two  or  three  hours 
at  a  time,  telling  the  drollest  stories,  with  comical  gri- 
maces and  hectoring  the  children,  who  never  could  keep 
away  from  him  though  they  knew  he  would  surely  tor- 
ment them.  But  if  the  case  was  serious  or  doubtful,  the 
Doctor  was  grave  and  silent,  and  sat  catching  flies  with 
the  rapidity  and  precision  of  a  terrier,  if  there  were  any 
to  catch,  —  or  walked  back  and  forth  cutting  tobacco  and 
chewing  it  with  an  avidity  that  was  marvelous. 

In  the  great  and  solemn  crises  of  birth  and  death,  in 
the  great  domestic  trials  through  which  all  families  must 
pass  somewhere  between  the  cradle  and  the  grave,  the 
Doctor  was  the  calm  counsellor  and  the  sympathizing 
friend.  His  quaint  brusque  speeches  and  ways  were  sel- 
dom an  offense  to  any  one,  and  his  hearty  cheerfulness 
was  better  than  medicine  to  dispel  the  blues.  He  en- 
joyed the  ludicrous  side  of  life  to  the  full,  and  when  any- 
thing occurred  that  he  considered  "  too  good  to  lose,"  he 
would  give  everybody  the  benefit  of  a  hearty  laugh  over 
it. 

An  incident  that  suited  the  Doctor  exactly,  occurred  in 
a  farmer's  family.  The  farmer  was  sick  from  a  strain  or 
something  that  required  an  external  application,  and  the 
Doctor  ordered  a  large  slice  of  brown  bread  to  be  soaked 
in  brandy  and  laid  upon  his  stomach.  The  next  day 
when  the  Doctor  called,  the  wife  met  him  at  the  head  of 
the  stairs.  "  Doctor,"  said  she,  "  that  brown  bread  hasn't 
done  any  good.  I  couldn't  make  him  eat  more  than  half 
of  it,  and  he  's  dreadful  sick."  "  Eat  it  !  good  gracious, 
woman  !  Eat  it  ? "  growled  the  astonished  Doctor,  "  I 
didn't  tell  you  he  was  to  eat  it !  It  was  to  go  on  out- 
side." 

"  Will  it  kill  him,  Doctor  ?  " 

"  Kill  him  !  No,  he'll  live  through.it !  *'  and  he  did,  and 
soon  got  well. 


DR.   WILD'S   HOMCEOPATHY.  167 

The  Doctor's  salutations  at  his  departure  were  unique, 
as  well  as  those  which  marked  his  entrance  to  a  sick  room, 
"  Now  if  you  can't  sleep  well  and  don't  know  what  to  do 
you  can  amuse  yourself  with  taking  an  emetic." 

There  was  no  end  to  the  odd  conceits,  the  quizzical 
expressions,  the  grotesque  turns  of  thought  which  were 
constantly  occurring  to  him.  And  he  was  wonderfully 
kindhearted  withal,  and  as  prompt  about  doing  a  favor, 
as  if  it  was  a  matter  of  course,  and  never  afterward  ap- 
peared to  remember  it. 

He  was  consulted  upon  all  sorts  of  matters,  from  choos- 
ing a  matrimonial  companion  to  building  a  porch  or  a 
lien-coop,  and  his  opinion  was  authority,  for  his  shrewd 
good  sense  was  seldom  at  fault. 

In  the  year  1839  the  attention  of  Dr.  Wild  was  turned 
to  homoeopathy,  which  was  then  new  in  this  part  of  the 
country.  He  was  convinced  that  there  was  something 
more  than  mere  theory  in  the  matter,  and  by  trying  it 
in  a  chronic  case  where  other  means  had  failed,  the  happy 
result  confirmed  his  previous  opinion. 

In  the  language  of  another,  "  From  this  time  he  pur- 
sued the  investigation  and  trial  of  the  system  until  he 
became  a  firm  believer  in  its  truth  and  efficiency.  He 
was  a  man  of  quick  observation,  of  an  investigating  mind, 
and  disliked  to  leave  a  subject  until  he  had  mastered  it. 
He  had  great  intellectual  candor,  looking  at  a  new  subject, 
thought,  or  creed  with  interest,  not  casting  it  aside  as 
humbug  or  charlatanism  till  he  was  convinced  from  inves- 
tigation that  it  was  such." 

While  the  Doctor  was  in  what  might  be  called  a  transi- 
tion state,  between  the  old  practice  and  the  new,  there 
was  a  trying  time  both  for  him  and  his  patients,  for  he  had 
new  difficulties  and  old  prejudices  to  encounter,  but  he  car- 
ried along  with  him  to  a  wonderful  degree  the  confidence 
of  his  patrons  and  met  with  marked  success  in  his  practice. 


168  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  second  meeting  held  in  New  England  by  physi- 
cians who  were  pioneers  in  the  new  practice  was  held 
at  Dr.  Wild's  house  February  16,  1841,  and  the  Massa- 
chusetts Homreopathic  Fraternity  was  organized,  and  a 
constitution  and  by-laws  adopted.  The  present  char- 
tered society  is  a  continuation  of  this  original  institution. 

He  carried  his  books  with  him  from  house  to  house  and 
studied  by  the  bedside  of  the  patient,  comparing  and  ob- 
serving, and  referring  to  the  best  authorities  then  extant 
for  the  wisest  methods  of  procedure. 

Miss  Amanda  M.  Corey,  afterwards  the  wife  of  Mr. 
James  Edmond,  was  then  a  school  girl,  very  bright  and 
original,  but  often  under  the  Doctor's  care,  and  was  a  great 
favorite  of  his.  Soon  after  he  began  practicing  the  new 
treatment  she  wrote  the  following  lines,  which  greatly 
amused  and  delighted  the  Doctor. 

ILLI,  CUI  CARMINA  APPLICENT.  * 

A  son  of  Esculapius  comes, 

I  hear  his  chariot  wheels ; 
The  very  sound  my  soul  benumbs, 

A  shiver  o'er  me  steals. 
Ye  muses,  aid  me  if  you  can, 

Ye  sundry  settled  bills, 
In  self-defense  to  sing  the  man 

Of  gallipots  and  pills ! 

Ye  classic  bards  of  olden  days, 

My  vacant  soul  inspire ; 
Ye  smiling  ghosts  of  comic  lays, 

Awake  my  sleeping  lyre. 
Desert  your  graves  in  winding-sheets, 

Diseases  fierce  and  grim; 
Ye  aches  and  pains  your  dark  retreats 

Forsake  and  sing  of  him. 

Ye  memories  of  departed  pillf, 

Of  bitter  powders  too, 
Support  my  shrinking  soul  that  fills 

With  horror  at  the  view. 

*  "  IHm  to  whom  the  song  applies."  . 


POEM   ON   DR.    WILD.  169 

Ye  spirits  all  of  tuneful  rhyme, 

Where'er  ye  chance  to  be, 
Come  mount  Parnassus'  heights  sublime, 

And  sweep  the  lyre  for  me. 

Come,  sing  the  Homoeopathic  kniyht ; 

Describe  him,  as  he  comes 
To  kindly  give  the  aching  wight 

A  dose  of  sugar-plums ! 
Who  banishes  disease  and  woe, 

And  contradicts  the  song, 
;'Man  wants  but  little  here  below, 

Nor  wants  that  little  long." 

Come,  sing  capacious  pockets  crammed 

With  roots  the  fields  supply, 
That  in  the  sounding  mortar  jammed, 

Diseases  stern  defy. 
The  names  that  on  his  vials  wrote, 

In  goodly  rows  appear, 
That  choke  the  rude,  contracted  throat, 

And  stun  the  vulgar  ear. 

But  most  of  all,  his  awful  eyes, 

That  pierce  my  very  soul; 
That  scan  my  feelings  as  they  rise, 

And  penetrate  the  whole 
For  eyes  and  "specs"  together,  strike 

The  very  seat  of  life ; 
And  scare  my  timid  spirit,  like 

A keen-edged  carving-knife ! 

But,  lo !  his  steed  is  at  the  gate, 

And  he  is  at  the  door; 
Be  steady  now,  my  whirling  pate, 

Ye  shaking  nerves  give  o'er. 
He  doffs  the  frightful  rubber  coat, 

Thatdark'y  shrouds  his  form, 
And,  fastened  tight  beneath  his  throat, 

Defies  and  scares  the  storm. 

He  leaves  his  cap  and  gloves  below, 

Arise  my  longest  hairs ! 
For  now,  with  solemn  step  and  slow, 

I  hear  him  on  the  stairs. 
Two  ponderous  volumes  in  his  hands, 

This  second  Galen  brings, 
And  by  the  couch  of  sickness  stands, 

A  man  of  mighty  things. 
12 


170  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

And  now  he  reads  those  mystic  books, 

Enlighteners  of  disease, 
And  grasps  his  patient's  wrist,  and  looks 

Profound  as  Socrates. 
Prescribes  a  dose,  then  lifts  his  eyes 

And  fastens  them  on  me ; 
My  blood  runs  cold,  my  spirit  dies,  ., 

So  terrible  is  he ! 

Ye  pitying  Muses,  one  and  all, 

That  e'er  on  mortals  smiled, 
0  teach  me  how  to  break  the  thrall, 

The  spell  of . 

And  if  the  task  of  serving  you 

Apollo  e'er  assigns, 
It  shall  be  hers,  life's  journey  through, 

Who  perpetrates  these  lines. 

Dr.  Wild  was  a  public-spirited  man,  interested  in  what- 
ever promoted  the  welfare  of  the  community.  For  many 
years  he  was  an  attendant  upon  the  ministry  of  Dr.  Pierce, 
at  the  Unitarian  Church,  and  was  a  member  of  the  choir 
connected  with  it.  Before  the  days  of  the  organ  the  Doc- 
tor played  the  flute. 

As  his  health  began  to  fail  with  advancing  years,  he 
relinquished  by  degrees  his  practice,  to  his  son,  Dr.  Ed- 
ward A.  Wild. 

He  had  now  more  leisure  for  reading  and  thought,  and 
became  interested  in  the  theology  of  the  New  Jerusalem 
Church.  He  considered  it  with  candor  and  patient  inves- 
tigation, and  was  satisfied  that  here  at  last  he  had  found 
the  two  great  books  of  nature  and  revelation  in  harmoni- 
ous agreement  instead  of  seeming  antagonism. 

He  heartily  embraced  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  and 
was  baptized  in  the  High  Street  Church  in  Brookline. 
He  spent  some  months  in  a  curative  institution  in  Boston 
without  any  manifest  improvement  to  his  health,  and  re- 
turned to  Providence  whither  his  wife  had  already  gone, 
and  in  that  city  he  died  on  the  3d  of  May,  1864,  aged 
seventy-one  years. 


BLAKE  AND   ASPINWALL   PLACES.  171 

His  son,  Dr.  Edward  A.  Wild,  had  gained  an  extensive 
practice  in  his  father's  stead,  in  this  town,  previous  to  the 
War  of  the  Rebellion.  He  had  spent  some  time  abroad 
during  the  great  war  between  Russia  and  the  allied 
armies,  and  gained  much  knowledge  in  the  hospitals  of 
the  Crimea.  At  home  he  was  a  public-spirited  citizen  as 
well  as  a  popular  and  successful  physician. 

When  the  Rebellion  began  he  gave  up  his  profession  to 
enter  the  service  of  his  country,  and  gathered  and  drilled 
in  this  town,  Company  A,  of  the  First  Massachusetts  regi- 
ment. 

From  the  office  of  Captain  which  he  held  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  war,  he  rose,  as  is  well  known,  to  the  rank  of 
Brigadier-general.  Of  what  he  did  and  what  he  suffered 
for  his  country  his  empty  sleeve  is  but  a  partial  testimo- 
nial. He  is  too  well  known  to  need  any  tribute  from  our 
pen,  and  we  share  the  regrets  of  a  large  community  that 
not  one  of  this  respected  family  remain  in  the  town  where 
the  two  doctors  were  so  long  useful,  and  where  they  were 
and  are  still  held  in  grateful  and  affectionate  remembrance. 

Captain  Walter  Wild,  the  Doctor's  youngest  son,  also 
was  in  the  service  of  the  United  States  during  the  late 


THE   BLAKE   AND   ASPINWALL  PLACES. 

The  whole  hill  extending  westward  from  the  first  ris- 
ing ground  west  of  Cypress  Street  to  Beacon  Street,  and 
from  Washington  Street  on  the  north  to  the  railroad  in 
the  valley  on  the  south,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  hills 
in  our  town  to  look  at  or  to  look  from.  Though  of  less 
height  than  Corey's  Hill,  it  commands  a  wide  and  varied 
prospect  which  never  tires  the  eye,  and  its  undulating 
surface  is  very  beautiful  in  detail. 

The  part  of  it  now  comprising  Mr.  Blake's  estate,  ex 


172  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

cept  the  orchard  on  the  southeast,  was  purchased  off  the 
Croft  farm  about  fifty  years  ago,  by  Mr.  Lewis  Tappan, 
who  built  the  stone  house  which  is  still  standing,  and  oc- 
cupied it  a  few  years.  The  place  extended  a  little  fur- 
ther west  than  at  present,  and  included  a  strip  of  land 
now  on  the  Aspinwall  place. 

After  the  removal  of  Mr.  Tappan  to  New  York  the 
house  was  occupied  by  Mr.  Nathaniel  R.  Cobb,  and  sub- 
sequently by  Henry  Robinson,  an  English  gentleman, 
who  resided  there  a  number  of  years.  All  its  owners 
have  been  gentlemen  of  wealth  and  taste,  but  no  one  has 
brought  the  place  to  such  elegance  and  perfection  as  its 
present  owner. 

About  forty  acres  of  land,  including  the  higher  part  of 
the  hill  and  the  woods  that  crown  it,  were  purchased  by  Dr. 
Aspinwall  in  1788  of  Mr.  Benjamin  White.  The  Doc- 
tor's fine  taste  is  evinced  in  the  selection  of  the  site  for 
his  house,  commanding  as  it  does  an  unbroken  view  of 
Boston  and  Charles  River,  with  all  the  towns  along  the 
north  side  of  the  river  for  miles,  while  the  most  beautiful 
part  of  Brookline  lies  directly  in  the  foreground.  When 
the  house  was  built  in  1803,  there  were  not  more  than 
six  houses  in  view  in  Brookline  from  the  front  of  it. 

There  was  an  old  house  standing  on  the  lower  slope  of 
the  lawn,  near  the  street,  whose  owner,  a  Mr.  Blanchard, 
was  the  first  sexton  of  "  Brookline  meeting-house,"  but 
this  was  removed  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. 

The  late  Augustus  Aspinwall,  a  son  of  the  Doctor, 
continued  to  occupy  and  improve  the  place  after  the 
death  of  his  venerable  father ;  a  sister  of  his  remaining 
unmarried  being  his  housekeeper,  and  the  companion  of 
years  of  loneliness  which  followed  the  early  death  of  his 
much-loved  wife.  Mr.  Aspinwall  made  his  garden  and 


MR.  ASPINWALL'S  ROSES.  173 

greenhouse  his  recreation  after  business  hours,  and  they 
became  famous  for  the  most  exquisite  roses  that  money 
and  choice  cultivation  could  procure. 

His  love  for  them  was  almost  a  passion,  and  it  seemed 
as  if  the  affection  which  might  otherwise  have  been  lav- 
ished upon  the  dearest  of  kindred,  found  occupation  and 
solace  among  his  beloved  roses.  There  were  hundreds  of 
varieties,  and  they  bloomed  successively  through  all  the 
seasons,  and  their  admiring  owner  shared  them  with  such 
of  his  friends  as  were  appreciative  of  their  rare  beauty. 
Choice  vines  and  fruit  trees  were  also  an  attraction  of 
this  fine  garden  and  farm. 

On  this  place,  as  on  the  adjoining  one  of  Mr.  Blake,  the 
fine  native  forest  trees  have  been  allowed  to  grow  and 
expand,  and  choice  evergreens,  on  the  Blake  place  partic- 
ularly, planted  in  groups  and  trimmed  into  symmetry, 
contrast  exquisitely  in  autumn  with  the  brilliant  hues  of 
the  abundant  maples. 

The  road-side  trees  along  both  these  places  are  a  per- 
petual blessing,  and  make  Washington  Street  for  a  half 
mile  like  a  woodland  avenue. 

We  have  heard  strangers  remark  upon  the  richness 
and  beauty  of  the  grass  in  many  parts  of  Brookline,  com- 
paring it  with  English  lawns  so  famous  for  their  beauty. 
It  has  often  been  said  that  a  New  Englander  must  go 
south  and  remain  for  a  time  before  he  can  appreciate  the 
luxuriance  and  greenness  of  the  grass  of  his  native  soil  ; 
but  we  think  the  dullest  eye  could  not  look  upon  the 
closely  trimmed  lawns,  without  a  sense  of  their  beauty, 
or  the  waving  wealth  of  cultivated  grass  upon  many  of 
the  finely  kept  places  in  our  town,  without  a  glow  of  ap- 
preciation which  will  reveal  to  him  that  though  there  may 
be  "  a  great  crop  of  hay,"  there  is  something  more  and 
finer  than  that. 


174  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  a  long  stretch  of 
land,  once  the  Cottons',  then  the  Sharps',  then  the  Crofts', 
and  afterwards  the  Crafts',  has  been  divided  and  subdi- 
vided among  many  owners,  and  separated  by  beautiful 
avenues  which  it  is  a  matter  of  public  regret  were  laid 
out  so  narrow  that  their  widening  now  begun,  involves 
the  destruction  of  the  beautiful  trees  which  have  so  long 
been  their  chief  charm  and  attraction. 

From  Park  Street  west  on  this  side  of  Washington 
Street  the  changes  have  been  so  slight  during  many 
years,  that  the  returning  native  of  the  town  who  might 
wander  perplexed  and  bewildered  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  town  like  an  awakened  Rip  Van  Winkle,  would  here 
find  himself  at  home  again,  and  the  finely  cultivated 
farm  of  the  Griggs  family  and  the  familiar  sight  of  the 
tannery  beyond,  assure  him  that  he  was  still  in  Brookline 
and  following  the  windings  of  the  Brighton  road. 


ROBINSON   AND   WITHINGTON   FAMILIES.  175 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE    ROBINSON,  WITHINGTON,  AND  COREY  PLACES. CYPRESS 

STREET.  BOYLSTON     STREET.  GIDEON     THAYER.  DR. 

SHURTLEFF. BRADLEY's    HILL. 

AMONG  the  earliest  annals  of  the  town  of  Dorchester 
appear  the  names  of  Robinson  and  Withington,  and 
from  1636  downwards  they  constantly  reappear  as  "  El- 
ders "  in  the  church,  or  selectmen  of  the  town.  In  1690 
we  find  "  Captain  John  Withington  "  leading  the  Dor- 
chester soldiers  on  the  "  Canada  Expedition  ; "  and  in 
the  Revolutionary  War,  the  young  men  of  both  families 
seem  to  have  been  numerous  and  active  in  the  service  of 
the  country. 

During  Shays'  Rebellion  in  1787,  we  find  "  Captain 
James  Robinson  "  of  Dorchester,  in  command  of  a  com- 
pany of  men  from  that  place  who  were  employed  to  assist 
in  putting  down  the  insurrection.  In  this  company  ap- 
pear the  names  of  John  and  David  Withington,  corporals. 
In  an  old  diary  kept  by  Colonel  Samuel  Pierce  of  Dor- 
chester, appears  a  curious  incident  under  date  of  Decenir 
ber  30, 1773.  On  December  15th  he  notes  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  tea  in  Boston  harbor.  It  seems  that  some 
chests  of  it  not  wholly  broken  up  or  emptied,  were  carried 
out  by  the  tide,  and  about  a  half  chest  had  drifted  ashore 
at  "the  Point,"  doubtless  now  South  Boston  or  City  Point. 
An  old  gentleman  of  the  Withington  family  had  fished  it 
out  and  carried  it  home,  not  because  of  any  Tory  lean- 
ings, but  probably  because  lie  liked  a  good  cup  of  tea  and 


176  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

could  not  bear  to  see  it  wasted.  Colonel  Pierce's  diary 
reads,  — 

"  December  15.  There  was  the  destruction  of  the  Tee  ;  they 
supposed  there  to  be  about  340  chests  destroyed,  all  thrown  into 
the  dock  in  one  nite." 

"  December  30.  There  was  a  number  of  men  came  from  Bos- 
ton in  disguise,  about  40 ;  they  came  to  Mr.  Eben  Withing- 
ton's  house  down  in  town,  and  demanded  his  Tee  from  him  which 
he  had  taken  up,  and  carried  it  off  and  burnt  it  at  Boston." 

It  was  publicly  burnt  on  the  Common. 

Henry  Witkington  from  whom  the  Brookline  families 
descended  was  a  "  Ruling  Elder  "  twenty-nine  years. 

Deacon  John  Robinson,  afterwards  of  this  town,  was 
born  in  Dorchester  in  1763.  He  was  therefore  too  young 
for  military  service  in  the  Revolution,  but  being  often 
sent  by  his  father  with  milk  to  the  British  troops,  then 
occupying  "  the  Castle,"  he  was  justly  indignant  at  their 
boastful  threats  of  the  ability  of  the  King's  troops  to  over- 
run the  country  and  conquer  the  rebel  colonies,  and  desired 
very  much  to  enter  the  service  as  a  fifer,  but  to  this  his 
father  would  not  consent,  on  account  of  his  tender  years. 
His  memory  of  the  fortifying  of  Dorchester  Heights,  the 
evacuation  of  Boston,  and  all  the  prominent  events  of  the 
times  was  very  distinct. 

About  the  year  1790  the  two  young  men,  now  only  re- 
membered as  venerable,  white-haired  fathers  of  the  town, 
John  Robinson  and  Enos  Withington,  who  had  been 
brought  up  to  the  trade  of  tanners,  sought  a  suitable  spot 
to  locate  themselves  and  commence  business.  Their  at- 
tention was  drawn  to  Brookline  at  that  time,  chiefly  be- 
cause of  its  minister,  the  Rev.  Joseph  Jackson,  whom  they 
and  others  of  the  Dorchester  people  occasionally  walked 
all  the  long  distance  from  that  town  to  this  on  Sundays 
to  hear,  he  being  "a  mighty  man  "  in  the  pulpit  in  those 


BUILDING   THE   FIRST   TANNERY.  177 

days.  He  did  not  confine  the  force  of  his  logic,  or  the 
power  of  his  eloquence  to  the  sins  of  ancient  Jews  or 
Philistines,  or  labor  vigorously  to  overthrow  a  man  of 
straw  of  his  own  construction,  but  rather  directed  his 
efforts  toward  the  sins,  or  what  he  considered  sins  of  his 
own  people.  Deacon  Robinson  used  to  mention  a  sermon 
of  Mr.  Jackson's,  which,  he  heard  one  Sunday  morning 
when  he  had  walked  from  Dorchester,  in  which  there  was 
something  of  what  might  be  called  personal  preaching. 
Some  of  the  good  man's  parishioners  had  been  rather  gay 
and  frisky,  and  kept  late  hours,  which  called  down  upon 
them  the  thunders  of  the  pulpit,  in  which  the  pastor 
seemed  to  be  making  vigorous  exertions  to  pound  the 
Bible  to  pieces. 

Whether  this  particular  sermon  decided  the  young  men 
to  come  to  Brookline,  does  not  appear,  but  they  came  in 
1790,  and  purchased  land  of  the  last  Robert  Sharp. 

All  the  land  at  that  time  from  the  Croft  house  to  the 
one  lately  owned  by  Mr.  Bartlett,  on  the  north  side  of 
the  street,  was  then  a  dark  and  tangled  swamp,  full  of 
rocks,  and  thick  with  alder  bushes  all  along  the  roadside. 
The  site  for  the  tannery  was  selected  (where  the  work  is 
still  continued  by  Samuel  A.  Robinson),  and  the  work  of 
clearing  up  and  preparing  to  build  was  soon  in  successful 
progress,  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  market-men  and 
others  who  had  to  frequent  this  lonely  road  at  unseason- 
able hours. 

Mr.  Robinson  built  his  house  in  1791,  married  Mr. 
Wellington's  sister,  and  settled  to  his  business.  Mr. 
Withington  built  his  house  within  three  years  after,  and 
married  Patience  Leeds  of  Dorchester,  a  sister  of  the 
James  Leeds  of  whom  we  gave  an  account  previously. 
Both  houses  were  alike  originally,  and  the  land  about  them, 
by  the  industry  of  these  energetic  young  men,  was  re- 


178  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

claimed  from  its  wildness,  and  orchards  and  mowing  lands 
took  the  places  of  rocky  pastures  and  alder  thickets. 

During  the  earlier  years  of  Mr.  Withington's  married 
life,  having  more  house  room  than  was  necessary,  he  let  a 
part  of  his  house  in  summer  to  Boston  families,  who  then 
found  fewer  places  of  summer  resort  than  at  present. 
Among  these  families  were  Governor  Gore's,  the  Hub- 
bards,  Clevelands,  and  other  prominent  people  of  Boston, 
who  enjoyed  the  fine  situation  and  the  grand  prospect 
from  the  top  of  the  hill. 

During  the  second  war  with  England,  when  Boston 
was  threatened  by  British  vessels,  every  available  spot  of 
unoccupied  room  in  this  house  was  at  one  time  packed 
full  of  duck,  which  was  removed  thither  by  some  mer- 
chants who  were  apprehensive  of  losing  it  in  case  of  an 
invasion. 

Mr.  Withington  did  not  continue  a  tanner  all  his  life, 
but  devoted  the  principal  part  of  his  life  to  farming.  He 
died  when  about  seventy-four  years  of  age.  The  late 
Deacon  Otis  Withington  of  Harvard  Church,  and  our 
present  Town  Treasurer,*  are  his  sons. 

Mr.  Robinson  was  also  an  active  man  in  the  First 
Church,  of  which  he  and  his  wife  early  became  members. 
In  this  church  he  was  a  deacon  fifty-seven  years,  and  won 
the  reputation  of  being  a  man  of  untiring  benevolence. 

Dr.  Pierce,  who  succeeded  Mr.  Jackson  in  1796,  speaks 
more  than  once  after  a  fifty  years'  pastorate,  of  Deacon 
Robinson  and  his  wife,  and  Mr.  Withington  and  his  wife, 
as  living  with  the  marriage  tie  unbroken,  longer  than  any 
other  couples  whom  he  found  residing  in  the  town  when 
he  came  here.  , 

When  Mr.  Robinson  had  held  the  office  of  deacon  fifty- 
seven  years,  and  the  infirmities  of  age  had  already  unfitted 
1  Moses  Withington,  Esq. 


DEACON   JOHN  ROBINSON.  179 

him  for  further  active  duties,  he  was  presented  with  a 
heavy  and  beautiful  silver  goblet,  with  the  following  in- 
scription :  — 

To    DEACON    JOHN    ROBINSON, 

From  the  First  Church  in  Brookline. 

RECALLING  HIS  LONG  AND  FAITHFUL  SERVICES  AND  GRATEFUL  FOR  HIS 
CONSISTENT  EXAMPLE  OF  LOVE  TOWARD  GOD  AND  MAN.    PRESENTED 

MAY    HTH,    1854. 
THE  57TH  ANNIVERSARY  OF  HIS  APPOINTMENT  TO  OFFICE. 

Deacon  Robinson  was  confined  to  his  bed  during  the 
last  two  years  of  his  life,  and  it  has  been  said  that  "  it 
was  truly  delightful  to  see  him  lying  so  humble  and 
submissive,  patiently  awaiting  his  departure.  Those  in 
attendance  upon  him,  often  heard  him  quoting  from  Scrip- 
ture and  verse  such  passages  as  best  suited  his  feelings, 
and  which  were  of  comfort  and  delight."  His  last  utter- 
ance upon  earth  was  the  Doxology,  — 

"  To  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son, 
And  God  the  Spirit,  Three  in  One, 
Be  honor,  praise,  and  glory  given, 
By  all  on  earth,  and  all  in  heaven." 

He  died  January  13,  1855,  aged  ninety-one  years  and 
six  months. 

An  appreciative  memorial  of  him  was  published  in  one 
of  the  religious  papers  soon  after  his  death.  The  widow 
and  the  fatherless  often  had  occasion  to  bless  his  memory 
as  one  of  the  Lord's  faithful  stewards,  and  none  who 
knew  him  will  fail  to  recall  to  memory,  his  venerable 
figure  and  countenance,  with  feelings  of  the  highest  re- 
spect and  esteem. 

Deacon  Robinson  was  overseer  of  the  poor  and  a 
selectman  for  thirty  years.  He  also  was  a  represent- 
ative in  the  State  Legislature  twelve  years.  The  house 
which  he  built  has  since  his  death  been  modernized  and 
greatly  improved  by  his  son,  so  that  to  appearance  it  has 


180  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLIKE. 

almost  lost  its  identity.  The  Withington  house,  which  has 
not  been  occupied  by  any  of  the  family  for  many  years, 
remains  as  built  by  its  original  owner.  The  large  gas- 
ometer lately  built  almost  in  front  of  it  alters  the  appear- 
ance of  the  neighborhood,  which  had  remained  so  many 
years  unchanged.  The  first  tannery  buildings  were  de- 
stroyed by  fire  several  years  ago,  and  rebuilt  in  an  im- 
proved manner.  The  second  tannery  with  the  house 
near  it  were  built  by  Deacon  Robinson  for  his  son  James, 
who  has  since  removed  from  Brookline. 

An  incident  has  recently  been  mentioned  to  us  which 
indicates  Dr.  Piercers  estimate  of  Deacon  Robinson.  A 
remark  was  made  in  his  hearing  respecting  an  ideal  char- 
acter of  which  one  of  the  family  was  reading,  and  it  was 
thought  to  be  overdrawn,  and  to  represent  impossible 
goodness.  "  Now,  where  in  real  life,"  it  was  asked,  "  will 
you  find  such  a  character  as  that  of  Lord  Orville  ?  "  when 
Dr.  Pierce  promptly  replied  that  he  "  did  not  believe  he 
was  any  better  man  than  Deacon  Robinson" 

The  anecdote  is  as  good  to  illustrate  Dr.  Pierce's  beau- 
tiful faith  and  charity,  as  to  indicate  the  esteem  in  which 
the  Deacon  was  held.  Dr.  Pierce  was  several  years 
younger  than  Deacon  Robinson,  and  much  more  vigorous, 
and  he  used  to  say  that  he  had  selected  his  text  for  the 
Deacon's  funeral  sermon  in  case  he  should  outlive  him, 
"  Mark  the  perfect  man  and  behold  the  upright,  for  the 
end  of  that  man  is  peace."  But  when  the  time  came  for 
Deacon  Robinson's  funeral  sermon  to  be  preached,  the 
grass  had  long  been  green  above  the  grave  of  his  old 
friend  and  pastor. 

THE   COREY   PLACES. 

The  next  house  of  ancient  standing  on  Washington 
Street,  was  built  and  occupied  by  Major  Edward  Whyte, 


CAPTAIN   COREY.  181 

who  died  in  1769,  aged  seventy-six.  In  this  house  was 
born  his  son  Oliver,  who  was  the  postmaster  and  town 
clerk  for  many  years,  and  whose  house  on  Walnut  Street 
has  recently  been  taken  down  by  his  heirs. 

The  house  of  Major  Whyte,  for  a  long  time  the  prop- 
erty of  the  Coreys,  is  the  one  now  owned  and  occupied 
until  recently  by  the  family  of  the  late  James  Bartlett. 

On  the  site  of  the  stone  house,  nearly  opposite  the  one 
above  mentioned,  there  stood  formerly  a  two-story  house, 
unpainted  and  black  with  age.  This  was  the  house  of 
Isaac  Winchester,  son  of  Captain  John  Winchester,  one 
of  the  old  proprietors  on  Harvard  Street.  Isaac  Win- 
chester died  in  1771. 

There  seems  to  be  very  little  known  respecting  this 
branch  of  the  Winchester  family ;  but  there  is  an  old  bill 
of  Dr.  Aspinwall's,  against  the  town  in  the  year  1780, 
for  "  attendance  upon  Exeter,  a  Negro  Servant,  belonging 
to  the  estate  of  Isaac  Winchester,  deceased."  Poor 
Exeter  probably  had  a  hard  time  of  it,  as  the  Doctor 
charged  for  one  hundred  and  sixty-six  visits,  besides  "  rum 
and  dressings.'' 

Shortly  after  Isaac  Winchester  died,  the  house  and  a 
tract  of  land  lying  upon  that  side  of  the  street,  and  land 
on  the  Whyte  place  on  the  opposite  side,  were  purchased 
by  Captain  Timothy  Corey  who  had  married  Elizabeth 
Griggs  of  Brookline.  He  was  the  son  of  Isaac  Corey  of 
Weston.  Captain  Corey  was  in  active  service  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  and  was  one  of  three  who  were  all 
that  were  left  of  an  entire  company  who  died  of  wounds, 
sickness,  and  imprisonment.  He  and  his  two  comrades 
returned,  footsore,  ragged,  and  forlorn,  from  their  terrible 
exposure  and  hardships.  At  the  time  of  the  battle  of 
Lexington,  his  young  wife  with  her  two  little  children 
left  the  house,  as  did  many  other  women  of  Brookline, 


182  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

and  carrying  some  blankets  and  provisions  with  them, 
sought  shelter  in  the  woods,  till  the  fright  and  danger, 
from  the  enemy  passing  through  the  town,  were  over. 

Captain  Corey  is  remembered  as  an  old  gentleman  who 
dressed  in  the  costume  of  the  last  century,  as  long  as  he 
lived,  wearing  a  "  three-cornered  cocked  hat."  An  anec- 
dote is  told  of  his  wife,  which  indicates  her  opinion  of 
her  husband's  appearance.  Some  one,  a  stranger,  called 
at  his  house  one  day  when  he  was  away  from  home,  de- 
siring to  see  him.  Mrs.  Corey  told  him  to  go  down  the 
road  and  if  he  met  "  a  fine-looking,  portly  man  on  horse- 
back, he  might  know  it  was  Tier  husband.'1''  Captain 
Corey  joined  the  Freemasons  in  his  old  age,  because  his 
son  Elijah  did  so  ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  given  as  a  reason 
for  doing  this,  that  "  no  son  of  his  should  know  more 
than  he  did."  Captain  Corey  died  in  1811,  aged  sixty- 
nine.  He  was  buried  from  the  First  Church  with  Ma- 
sonic honors.  His  widow  lived  to  be  ninety-two  years  of 
age,  and  retained  her  faculties  to  the  last. 

In  this  ancient  house  there  was  often  preaching  by 
various  ministers,  who  were  called  "  New  Lights."  An 
old  colored  Baptist  preacher,  known  as  "Black  Paul,'' 
and  quite  a  local  celebrity  fifty  years  ago,  frequently 
preached  there.  "  Father  Grafton"  also  preached  there 
many  times.  All  the  family  had  been  members  of 
the  First  Church,  or  attendants  upon  worship  there,  but 
the  "  New  Lights,"  who  were  a  sort  of  revivalists,  caused 
a  secession  of  many  of  the  people,  some  of  whom  joined 
the  Baptists  and  some  the  Congregationalists. 

The  two  sons  of  Captain  Corey,  afterwards  known  as 
"  Deacon  Elijah,"  and  "  Deacon  Timothy,"  joined  the 
Baptists. 

Deacon  Timothy  in  his  young  manhood  was  a  militia 
captain  in  this  town  and  in  the  second  war  with  Eng- 


AN  ANCIENT    WEDDING.  183 

land,  on  the  muster  roll  for  1813  and  1814,  his  name 
appears  as  Captain,  Robert  S.  Davis  as  Lieutenant,  and 
Thomas  Griggs  as  Ensign. 

Moses  Jones  and  Daniel  Pierce,  with  two  or  three 
other  less  familiar  names,  were  "  Music  Serjeants."  It 
was  during  the  year  1814  that  a  detachment  from  the 
Brookline  company  consisting  of  thirty  men,  was  ordered 
to  Fort  Independence,  by  Colonel  Dudley,  for  three 
months'  duty. 

Deacon  Timothy  Corey  built  the  house  now  occupied 
by  his  son  of  the  same  name,  early  in  the  present  cen- 
tury. He  married  Mary,  daughter  of  Caleb  Gardner  of 
this  town.  After  the  death  of  his  mother  he  had  the  old 
black  house  torn  down,  and  subsequently  built  the  pres- 
ent stone  house  upon  the  site  of  it.  He  was  a  man  who 
was  much  beloved  and  respected  in  his  life,  and  sincerely 
mourned  in  his  death.  He  died  in  August,  1844,  aged  62. 

Elijah  Corey,  afterwards  the  deacon,  married,  when 
quite  young,  Polly  Leeds  of  Dorchester,  from  the  same 
Leeds  family  previously  mentioned.  This  was  in  No- 
vember, 1797.  The  "  wedding  visit "  *  was  a  gay  affair  for 
those  times,  and  a  quiet  farming  place,  as  Brookline  was 
then.  Almost  everybody  in  the  town  was  invited,  and 
there  was  the  inspiriting  music  of  a  fife  and  drum. 
There  was  not  much  finery  in  those  days,  but  what  there 
was,  was  conspicuous  on  this  occasion.  An  old  citizen 
tells  us  that  his  mother,  then  young  and  fair,  wore  a  new 
white  silk  hat,  with  white  feathers,  almost  exactly  in  the 
style  of  those  worn  by  young  ladies  the  present  season. 

Mr.  William  Ackers,  the  former  owner  of  the  Fisher 

place  on  the  corner  of  Boylston  Street,  used  to  relate  an 

incident  of  his  own  participation  in  this  ancient  wedding. 

He  was  a.  stylish  young  man  in  those  days,  and  had  had 

*  The  old  time  name  for  a  "  Reception." 


184  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLIXE. 

black  satin  "  small-clothes,"  ordered  for  the  occasion,  but 
as  he  was  leaving  his  own  house,  a  sudden  slip  in  the 
muddy  yard  brought  his  satin  finery  to  utter  discomfiture, 
and  he  was  forced  to  go  back  and  make  his  toilet  anew, 
in  plainer  garb.  The  old  house  (lately  the  Bartlett  house) 
was  crowded  with  merry  guests  and  the  cheerful  occasion 
was  an  event  long  talked  of  afterwards.  In  1821,  when 
his  son  Elijah  was  married,  the  father  built  the  house  on 
the  hill  on  the  south  side  of  the  street,  and  the  son  occu- 
pied the  old  house  during  the  remainder  of  his  life. 

Deacon  Elijah  Corey  was  left  a  widower  in  1827,  and 
in  1829  married  the  widow  of  Captain  Robert  S.  Davis. 

The  causeway  across  the  valley  from  Washington 
Street  to  the  steep  hillside  was  built  by  Deacon  Corey 
about  fifty  years  ago.  At  the  entrance  of  it  stood  a 
barn,  underneath  which  was  a  cider- mill.  This  barn  was 
destroyed  by  fire  several  years  since. 

All  the  Coreys  of  three  generations  have  been  farmers 
and  have  been  considered  shrewd,  practical  men.  The 
two  brothers,  Elijah  and  Timothy,  were  among  the  first 
projectors  of  the  Baptist  Church  enterprise  in  this  town, 
and  to  that  purpose  devoted  time,  labor,  and  money. 

None  who  were  familiar  with  the  old  Baptist  vestry 
will  ever  forget  Deacon  Elijah  Corey's  voice  and  manner 
in  his  old  age.  If  the  meeting  flagged  and  there  was  an 
awful  silence,  Deacon  Corey  would  strike  out  in  a  high 
key,  "  Come  Holy  Spirit,  Heavenly  Dove,"  to  the  tune 
of  Turner,  or  St.  Martin's,  or  "  Life  is  the  time  to  serve 
the  Lord,"  to  the  tune  of  Wells,  or  some  other  familiar 
old  hymn,  and  by  the  time  he  had  sung  a  line  or  two, 
other  voices  joined  in  and  the  solo  became,  not  lost  in, 
but  a  part  of,  a  chorus. 

His  exhortations  abounded  in  striking  metaphors  and 
strong  language,  frequently  beginning  with,  "  Brethren, 


ORIGIN   OF   CYPRESS   STREET.  185 

a  thought  struck  me,"  and  he  usually  made  the  thought 
strike  his  hearers  before  he  finished.  He  often  ended  an 
exhortation  with  the  desire  that  the  Lord  would  "  make 
our  souls  like  the  chariots  of  Amminadib"  (Song  of  Solo- 
mon vi.  12).  But  in  what  respect  this  would  have  been 
desirable,  was  not  apparent  to  the  listeners ;  and  we  often 
wondered  what  the  good  deacon's  idea  of  such  a  condi- 
tion of  soul  might  be.  There  is  no  question,  however, 
but  that  all  through  his  life  he  had  at  heart  not  only  the 
building  up  of  his  church  here  but  of  the  denomination 
to  which  he  belonged,  not  only  here  but  abroad. 

He  was  one  of  the  Trustees  of  Newton  Theological  In- 
stitution, and  many  a  lack  in  finance  both  there  and  at 
the  Missionary  Rooms,  was  filled  out  from  Deacon  Corey's 
purse. 

He  died  in  May,  1859,  aged  eighty-six,  and  was  buried 
from  the  Baptist  Church.  A  bunch  of  apple-blossoms,  a 
fit  tribute  to  one  who  had  been  all  his  life  a  farmer,  was 
the  only  floral  offering  laid  upon  his  breast. 

CYPRESS   STREET. 

On  the  llth  of  May,  1719,  it  was  ordered  that  a  new 
town  way  should  be  opened,  "  from  Watertown  road  be- 
tween the  farms  of  Mr.  Rowland  Cotton  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Cotton,  all  the  way  in  the  said  Thomas  Cotton's  land, 
and  so  into  the  land  belonging  to  the  heirs  of  Caleb 
Gardner,  into  Sherburne  road,  for  the  convenience  of  the 
people  in  the  north  part  of  the  town  in  going  to  meet- 
ing." 

This  was  the  origin  of  Cypress  Street,  which  was  called 
the  "  New  Lane  "  for  more  than  one  hundred  and  twenty 
years.  It  was  only  a  narrow  lane  through  woods  and 
bushes,  and  much  of  it  so  low  as  to  be  very  wet,  and  at 
some  seasons  quite  covered  with  water. 

13 


186  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  "  Sherburne  road,"  was  what  is  now  Walnut 
Street,  and  "  the  land  belonging  to  the  heirs  of  Caleb 
Gardner,"  was  the  present  Bird  place. 

Before  Cypress  Street  was  opened,  as  early  as  1706,  it 
was  "  Voted,  that  there  should  be  a  burying-place,  on  the 
south  side  of  the  hill  on  Mr.  Cotton's  farm,  between  the 
two  roads,  if  it  can  be  obtained." 

But  it  could  not  be  "  obtained,"  and  for  eleven  years 
afterwards  people  were  obliged  to  carry  their  dead  out  of 
town  for  burial,  as  many  of  their  descendants  are  obliged 
to  do  at  present.* 

The  two  corner  houses  at  the  entrance  of  this  street, 
have  been  previously  described. 

The  land  in  the  street  in  front  of  the  corner  house, 
now  owned  by  Dr.  Salisbury,  was  originally  part  of  the 
yard  to  that  house,  and  included  the  great  elm  tree. 
When  it  became  necessary  to  have  the  corner  rounded  on 
that  side  of  the  street,  the  way  was  carried  through  the 
yard,  but  the  triangular  piece,  including  the  great  elm 
and  the  other  elm,  not  long  since  cut  down,  still  belonged 
to  the  old  house,  and  was  at  one  time  inclosed  for  a  short 
time  by  a  slight  railing  to  prevent  forfeiture.  The  right 
to  so  inclose  it  held  good  until  within  the  last  quarter 
century. 

The  place  long  known  as  the  Searle  place,  was  bought 
in  1817  by  a  Mr.  Hubbard,  a  carpenter,  who  built  the 
church  on  Roxbury  Hill,  known  as  the  "  Eliot  Church," 
opposite  the  Norfolk  House.  Mr.  Hubbard  altered  and 
added  to  his  shop  the  next  year  and  made  a  house  of  it 
in  which  he  lived.  Directly  opposite,  there  was  placed 
soon  after  an  old  barn  which  was  removed  from  opposite 
the  old  Croft  house  on  Washington  Street.  This  was  on 

*  Since  this  was  written,  a  lot,  upon  Grove  St.,  has  been  purchased  for  a 
Cemetery. 


THE   SEARLE   PLACE.  187 

the  Crafts  place.  Mr.  Hubbard  did  not  much  admire  the 
addition  to  his  neighborhood  and  left  Mr.  Crafts  no  peace, 
and  after  several  years  the  barn  was  disposed  of. 

Mr.  Hubbard  was  succeeded  in  the  ownership  of  his 
house  by  Mr.  George  Searle,  who  altered  and  enlarged, 
and  at  last  built  the  additional  house  nearest  the  street, 
thus  making  two  houses,  though  so  joined  as  to  appear 
as  one. 

The  various  changes  and  additions  which  have  been 
made  in  these  houses  have  produced  some  most  original 
specimens  of  architecture,  such  as  would  hardly  be  found 
in  any  volume  on  the  subject,  ancient  or  modern.  They 
must  be  seen  to  be  appreciated.  The  garden  was  for- 
merly a  very  fine  one  of  the  old  fashioned  type.  A  large 
butternut  tree  near  the  centre  was  surrounded  by  a  cir- 
cular seat.  Gravel  walks,  profusely  bordered  with  pinks, 
separated  beds  of  tulips,  roses,  and  other  flowers,  while 
rustic  arbors  were  overrun  with  honeysuckle,  woodbine, 
and  other  vines.  Choice  fruit  trees,  and  many  grafts  on 
natural  stocks,  two  or  three  on  the  same,  gave  great  vari- 
ety in  this  line,  and  ornamental  trees  and  flowering  shrubs 
filled  up  the  intervening  spaces. 

In  the  eastern  house,  there  was  kept  for  many  years  a 
boarding-school  for  young  ladies,  under  the  charge  of 
Miss  Lucy  Searle,  a  lady  of  much  culture  and  taste  ;  and 
at  various  times  there  were  pupils  here  from  distant 
States,  even  as  far  as  Georgia.  The  western  part  of  the 
house  was  at  one  time  occupied  by  Hon.  Ellis  Gray  Lor- 
ing.  Many  distinguished  visitors  have  at  various  times 
been  entertained  within  these  houses.  Among  these 
were  Judge  Story,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Follen,  Mrs.  Lydia 
Maria  Child,  Professor  Norton,  William  Page  and  Gam- 
badelli,  artists,  Mrs.  Caroline  Gilman,  and  many  others 
more  or  less  known  to  the  literary  world. 


188  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  house  now  owned  by  Mr.  Sturtevant,  was  built 
for  the  late  Amos  Atkinson  of  this  town,  was  afterwards 
occupied  by  Deacon  Lambert,  who  after  several  years' 
residence  here  went  to  New  York,  and  from  that  time 
till  it  came  into  possession  of  its  present  owner,  it  was 
the  property  of  Samuel  A.  Walker,  the  well-known 
auctione3r.  Mr.  Walker  at  one  time  owned  a  great  deal 
of  real  estate  in  Brookline,  and  took  quite  a  conspicuous 
part  in  local  affairs.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street 
about  forty  years  ago,  quite  a  tract  of  land  was  owned 
by  Mr.  John  Gorham,  —  the  new  avenue  on  that  side 
bears  his  name. 

Mr.  Moses  Jones,  the  father  of  the  present  citizen  of 
that  name,  built  his  house  about  forty  years  ago,  and 
settled  there,  and  made  his  farm  on  both  sides  of  the 
street  one  of  the  finest  and  most  productive  of  fruit  and 
vegetables  of  any  in  the  vicinity. 

On  the  west  side  of  the  street  much  of  the  land,  as  we 
have  said,  was  low  and  swampy,  and  some  of  it  was 
heavily  timbered.  Mr.  Jones  bought  twenty-seven  acres 
of  this  land  for  four  thousand  dollars,  and  proceeded  to 
clear  and  drain  and  improve  it.  He  sold  a  great  deal  of 
heavy  white  oak  timber  off  it  to  Boston  ship-builders. 
The  one  great  oak  at  the  entrance  to  Tappan  Street  is  a 
specimen  of  what  the  place  produced  in  the  way  of  trees. 

The  road  was  so  low  at  this  point  not  many  years  ago 
that  the  land  on  which  the  tree  stands  was  walled  up 
some  three  feet  above  the  level  of  the  road.  There  was 
probably,  at  some  distant  period,  a  pond  covering  all  the 
level  ground  on  both  sides  of  Cypress  Street,  from  the 
Blake  place  to  the  rising  ground  west  of  Mr.  Beck's 
place  in  Davis  Avenue,  and  from  near  Washington  Street 
on  the  north  to  the  rising  ground  near  Boylston  Street 
on  the  south,  since,  within  the  memory  of  persons  now 


BOYLSTON   STREET.  189 

living  at  an  advanced  age,  there  was  a  great  deal  of 
standing  water  on  this  territory  during  most  of  the  year. 
In  digging  to  drain  it  some  sixty  or  seventy  years  ago, 
large  tree  stumps,  and  beds  of  clam  and  other  shells,  were 
found  from  six  to  ten  feet  below  the  surface. 

The  fine  orchard  on  the  southerly  slope  of  the  hill, 
in  the  sheltered  angle  between  the  woods  on  the  Aspin- 
wall  and  Blake  places,  was  set  out  by  Farmer  Jones.  He 
planted  alternate  rows  of  apple  and  peach  trees,  and 
while  the  former  were  coming  to  maturity,  the  latter  lived 
a  short  and  prolific  life,  and  then  gave  place  to  the  sturdy 
and  beautiful  trees  that  have  been  admired  by  every 
passer-by  for  many  years. 

Boylston  Street  was  not  laid  out  when  the  "New 
Lane,"  was  made,  nor  for  some  time  afterwards,  so  that 
there  was  no  intersecting  street  the  whole  length  of  the 
lane.  After  Boylston  Street  was  laid  out  there  was  a 
school-house  built  on  the  corner  of  what  is  now  Mr.  Bird's 
land,  and  a  private  school  was  kept  there  for  several 
years  by  a  Miss  Stebbins.  The  name  of  Cypress  Street 
was  given  in  1840. 

BOYLSTON   STREET. 

Boylston  Street,  that  is,  that  part  of  it  from  its  entrance 
at  the  village  to  the  gate-house  of  the  old  reservoir,  and 
from  the  beginning  of  Heath  Street  to  the  Newton  line, 
was  a  part  of  the  old  Worcester  Turnpike,  and  its  con- 
struction was  entered  upon  in  1806. 

An  arch  over  the  road  at  the  village  indicate  1  the  point 
from  which  toll-rates  were  to  be  reckoned,  and  the  first 
toll-gate  was  established  at  the  upper  part  of  the  town 
near  what  was  known  for  many  years  as  Richards'  Tav- 
ern. Turnpike  roads  were  constructed  so  as  to  be  as 
nearly  straight  as  possible,  and  with  this  end  in  view 


190  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

went  over  hills  ;md  through  valleys,  when  a  short  detour 
would  have  saved  time  and  wear  of  travel.  The  road 
was  carried  over  the  summit  of  Bradley 's  Hill,  and  was 
consequently  so  very  steep  that  loaded  teams  almost  inva- 
riably were  obliged  to  go  round  by  the  old  road,  by  the 
Unitarian  Church. 

The  two  old  houses  belonging  to  Major  White,  on  the 
present  site  of  Guild's  Block,  have  been  described  in  a 
former  chapter.  From  these,  to  the  houses  on  the  estate 
of  the  late  Benjamin  Goddard,  there  was  not  a  house  on 
either  side  of  the  street,  for  many  years. 

The  first  house  built  was  the  small  one,  now  the  second 
east  of  Dr.  Shurtleff's  and  at  present  standing  endways 
to  the  street.  It  formerly  stood  fronting  the  street,  and 
was  built  by  a  man  named  Rafter,  an  English  or  Scotch 
gardener,  who  at  that  time  was  employed  by  Richard  Sul- 
livan, Esq.,  who  lived  on  the  place  now  occupied  by  Mrs. 
Bowditch,  next  the  reservoir. 

After  Mr.  Rafter,  the  house  was  bought  by  John 
Pierce,  a  tanner,  who  carried  on  the  business  there  for  sev- 
eral years.  He  was  a  worthy  man,  and  in  his  early  years 
was  in  the  employ  of  Deacon  Robinson,  who  afterwards 
aided  him  in  establishing  himself  in  business. 

About  the  year  1820  or  1822,  Mr.  Richard  Sullivan, 
General  Dearborn,  and  several  other  gentlemen,  formed 
a  company  or  corporation  for  the  purpose  of  establish- 
ing a  classical  school  in  Brookline,  for  boys,  and  bought 
a  part  of  the  ground  now  included  in  Dr.  Shurtleff's 
place,  and  built  for  a  school-room  the  present  southerly 
wing  or  projection  of  the  house.  It  was  considered  at 
that  time  the  finest  piece  of  architecture  in  the  vicinity, 
and  was  looked  upon  with  great  interest  as  a  valuable  ad- 
dition to  the  town. 

Afterwards  the  house  was  built,  as  a  boarding-house 


GIDEON    THAYER. —  GEORGE    B.    EMEliSON.  191 

for  the  pupils,  and  thus  the  school-building  lost  its  dis- 
tinctive character.  The  first  teacher  was  a  Mr.  Barlow. 
A  Mr.  Hubbard  was  for  some  time  owner  of  the  house 
and  school-house.  In  the  year  1830  Mr.  Gideon  Thay- 
er,  the  founder  of  Chauncy  Hall  School,  purchased  the 
place  of  Mr.  Hubbard,  and  removed  here  with  his  family, 
bringing  with  him  a  number  of  delicate  boys  whose  par- 
ents were  anxious  to  have  them  enjoy  the  purer  air  and 
freedom  of  the  country.  Mr.  Thayer  employed  a  sub- 
master  for  the  Brookline  branch  of  his  school,  and  con- 
tinued his  Boston  school  as  before.  Mr.  Thayer  had  been 
a  resident  of  Brookline  in  his  childhood,  and  his  parents 
died  here,  in  the  house  on  the  corner  of  School  and  Wash- 
ington streets.  When  he  returned  to  Brookline  he  at 
once  connected  himself  with  the  First  Parish,  and  during 
the  five  years  of  his  residence  here  he  worked  as  super- 
intendent of  the  Sunday-school  with  all  the  vigor  and 
personal  interest  which  he  infused  into  everything  he 
undertook.  The  memoir  of  this  excellent  man,  while  it 
gives  his  traits  as  a  teacher  admirably,  does  not  treat  of 
that  other  side  of  his  character,  which  made  him  eminently 
the  friend  of  the  poor  and  the  struggling.  Many  a  poor 
boy  he  taught  gratuitously,  and  many  more  he  set  up  in 
business.  Poor  women  came  to  him  as  their  friend  and 
counsellor,  and  wherever  he  lived  or  worked  he  left  his 
mark  upon  the  community.  He  evidently  felt  himself 
but  a  steward  for  the  Great  Master,  an  almoner  of  his 
Lord's  bounty.  He  might  have  been  a  rich  man,  but  he 
preferred  to  be  an  unselfish  one,  and  as  such  he  has  gone 
to  the  reward  of  the  faithful. 

After  several  years  Mr.  Thayer  returned  to  Boston,  hav- 
ing sold  the  place  to  George  B.  Emerson  of  Boston,  the 
well-known  educator.  The  Classical  School  was  con- 
tinued in  various  private  houses  for  a  few  years  longer 


192  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

with  varying  success,  and  was  finally  abandoned.  Mr. 
Emerson  lived  in  the  stone  house  two  years,  and  during 
that  time  spent  a  winter  in  Boston,  having  leased  his  house 
to  William  Ware,  the  author  of  "  Last  Days  of  Aurelian," 
"  Zenobia,"  and  various  other  works.  "Zenobia"  was 
written  in  the  north  parlor  of  that  house.  It  being  be- 
fore the  days  of  furnaces  or  double  windows,  the  shiver- 
ing author  had  a  difficult  time  in  keeping  his  ink  and 
his  blood  in  a  circulating  condition.  The  book  was  pub- 
lished in  1838. 

About  this  time  Dr.  Shurtleff,  the  late  owner,  pur- 
chased the  place  of  Mr.  Emerson,  adding  to  the  land  by  a 
purchase  of  half  an  acre  on  the  west,  from  the  property 
of  Moses  Jones,  to  whom  it  came  by  way  of  the  Clarks, 
who  were  owners  on  the  east  side  of  Cypress  Street. 

There  are  still  standing  on  the  Shurtleff  place,  an  old 
pear  tree  and  two  apple  trees,  which  were  set  out  by 
Thomas  Cotton  who  built  the  old  Davis  house,  and  owned 
all  the  land  which  has  been  previously  mentioned  as  the 
Cotton  property.  From  the  Cottons,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, it  came  to  the  Davises,  and  was  finally  sold  off  in 
small  lots  to  one  purchaser  after  another,  and  this  place 
was  a  part  of  it. 

In  this  house  was  born,  June  18,  1840,  Carlton  At- 
wood,  youngest  son  of  Dr.  S.  A.  Shurtleff.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  the  Brookline  schools,  fitfled  for  Harvard  College 
under  Mr.  J.  E.  Hoar  at  our  High  School,  and  graduated 
in  the  class  of  1861.  He  was  greatly  interested  in  botany 
and  entomology,  and  after  graduating,  studied  with  Pro- 
fessor Agassiz  for  a  year.  He  then  studied  medicine  at 
the  Harvard  Medical  School,  and  with  his  father  and  Dr. 
T.  E.  Francis  of  this  town.  During  the  War  of  the  Re- 
bellion he  entered  the  United  States  army  as  a  medical 
cadet,  and  served  first  on  a  floating  hospital  on  the  Mis- 


DR.    SAMUEL    A.    SHURTLKFF.  193 

sissippi  River  during  the  siege  of  Vicksburg.  He  there 
contracted  chills  and  fever,  and  received  a  short  furlough- 
He  came  home,  but  as  soon  as  his  health  would  admit  re- 
turned to  the  army,  and  was  assigned  to  the  Cotton  Fac- 
tory Hospital  in  Harrisburg,  immediately  after  the  battle 
of  Gettysburg,  where  he  labored  three  months,  and  after- 
wards was  on  duty  in  the  hospitals  of  Philadelphia.  His 
health  was  impaired  by  the  chills  which  he  contracted  in 
front  of  Vicksburg,  and  after  a  short  and  sudden  illness 
he  died  at  his  home  in  Brookline,  June  26,  1864,  aged 
twenty-four  years.  He  was  a  member  of  the  Boston  So- 
ciety of  Natural  History  and  the  Numismatic  Society,  and 
in  his  favorite  studies  he  had  made  close  and  valuable  in- 
vestigations, and  left  ably  prepared  papers  upon  various 
scientific  topics. 

But  it  was  chiefly  for  his  blameless  life  and  beautiful 
traits  of  character  that  this  young  man  was  beloved  and 
mourned.  He  was  a  member  of  the  New  Church  (High 
Street)  in  Brookline,  and  was  one  of  the  most  active 
among  the  young  people  of  the  society  in  all  good  works. 
As  one  of  his  college  classmates  expressed  it  after  his 
death,  u  he  was  thoughtful,  religious,  yet  ever  happy 
through  infinite  faith.  He  was  not  afraid  to  die." 
Though  he  did  not  fall  in  field  or  camp,  there  is  no 
doubt  that  his  precious  young  life  must  be  added  to  the 
fatal  list  of  those  which  the  Rebellion  cost. 

Dr.  Samuel  A.  Shurtleff,  long  an  eminent  physician  in 
Boston,  has  been  identified  with  Brookline  for  the  past 
thirty  years.  He  died  March  11,  1873.  From  an  obitu- 
ary which  was  published  in  the  "  Brookline  Transcript  " 
soon  after  his  death,  the  following  is  copied  :  — 

'*  He  came  of  the  old  Puritan  stock,  being  the  sixth  in  descent 
from  his  ancestor  who  came  over  in  the  Mayflower,  and  who 
was  still  living  in  1699. 


194  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

"  His  boyhood  was  spent  on  the  ancestral  farm  which  had  de- 
scended from  father  to  son  from  the  time  that  it  was  bought  from 
the  Indians,  and  which  he  possessed  at  the  time  of  his  death. 
He  studied  medicine  with  his  brother,  the  late  Dr.  Benjamin 
Shurtleff,  and  taking  his  medical  degree  at  Brown  University  he 
commenced  the  practice  of  his  profession  in  Boston,  in  which  he 
continued  until  the  year  1838,  when  the  destruction  of  his  pleas- 
ant garden,  by  the  demolition  of  Pemberton  Hill,  combined  with 
serious  attacks  of  ill  health,  induced  by  the  cares  and  exposure 
of  a  large  practice,  determined  him  to  remove  from  the  city.  In 
that  year  he  removed  to  his  late  residence  on  Boylston  Street  in 
this  town,  where  he  has  since  led  a  life  of  comparative  retire- 
ment. 

'•  He  had  a  great  fondness  for  the  study  of  natural  history, 
especially  conchology.  He  discovered  a  number  of  new  varie- 
ties of  shells,  hitherto  unknown,  and  left  one  of  the  finest  and 
most  complete  collections  in  New  England. 

"  He  was  also  a  devoted  horticulturist,  and  succeeded  in  add- 
ing to  the  list  of  known  pears,  a  large  number  of  new  kinds, 
some  of  them  of  great  value.  In  middle  life  he  was  a  member, 
and  for  some  time  vice-president,  of  the  Horticultural  Society, 
and  took  an  active  part  in  the  proceedings. 

"  His  life  in  later  years  has  been  uneventful,  but  he  had  a 
mind  full  of  resources,  and  intelligent  to  the  last,  and  his  time 
was  always  usefully  and  pleasantly  occupied. 

*'  His  final  illness  was  of  short  duration,  and  after  a  few  rest- 
less hours  he  quietly  passed  to  that  better  life,  for  which  he  has 
long  been  prepared,  and  to  which  he  looked  forward  in  perfect 
confidence  and  peace." 

BRADLEY'S  HILL. 

Bradley's  Hill,  formerly  called  Walley's  Hill,  was 
bought  of  Mr.  Thomas  Walley,  who  lived  on  the  present 
Bird  place,  about  the  year  1820,  by  Benjamin  Bradley. 

This  individual  was  as  much  a  part  of  Brookline  as  Dr. 
Pierce,  or  the  old  stone  school-house  ;  and  no  account  of 


BRADLEY'S  HILL.  195 

the  town  could  reproduce  it  "  as  it  was,"  without  Ben. 
Bradley  in  it. 

Mr.  Bradley  came  to  this  town  in  his  youth,  and  learned 
his  trade  (a  carpenter)  of  Mr.  Nathaniel  Murdock.  He 
was  soon  hired  as  sexton  of  the  Unitarian  Church,  and 
served  in  that  capacity  for  thirty  years.  For  several 
years  he  held  the  office  of  town  constable.  He  was  also 
captain  of  the  Brookline  militia  about  ten  years,  and  was 
thenceforth  known  as  Captain  Bradley. 

We  think  it  was  Sydney  Smith,  who  once  said  that  if 
a  woman  were  obliged  to  give  a  military  company  the 
order  to  "  Halt  !  "  she  would  do  it  on  this  wise,  "  Now 
soldiers,  what  I  want  of  you  is,  that  you  should  all  stop, 
and  stand  still  right  where  you  are  and  not  stir  another 
step  till  I  tell  you  to."  One  of  Captain  Bradley 's  first 
military  orders  was  about  as  verbose,  "  Now  fellow  sol- 
diers, let's  all  see  if  we  can't  form  a  straight  line  ; " — 
quite  a  necessary  arrangement,  one  would  suppose  from 
descriptions,  given  by  witnesses,  of  the  company  that 
marched  behind  him  to  the  music  of  the  drum  and  fife. 

Soon  after  Mr.  Bradley  bought  the  hill,  he  purchased 
a  very  old  gambrel-roofed  one-story  house  of  Mr.  John 
Warren  on  Warren  Street,  and  moved  it  to  the  west  side 
of  the  hill.  This  was  the  beginning  of  the  settlement 
which  became  so  notorious.  From  time  to  time  other 
houses  were  built,  or  bought  and  moved  to  the  hill,  till  it 
was  covered.  For  many  years  it  was  a  cheap  and  com- 
fortable place  for  poor  but  respectable  American  mechan- 
ics and  laborers  to  live.  Mr.  Bradley  is  said  to  have 
been  a  kind  landlord,  very  reasonable  in  his  charges  for 
rent,  and  lenient  with  those  who  through  sickness  or  mis- 
fortune were  unable  to  pay,  and  had  a  friendly  way  of 
leaving  a  turkey  at  every  tenant's  door  the  night  before 
Thanksgiving. 


196  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

What  animosities  and  small  revenges  he  chose  to  show 
toward  those  whom  he  had  occasion,  or  thought  he  had, 
to  dislike,  generally  embodied  themselves  in  little  mean- 
looking  houses  stuck  up  on  the  nearest  piece  of  land,  to  the 
object  of  his  aversion,  which  he  could  obtain.  Several 
such  remain  to  keep  his  memory  green. 

The  most  conspicuous  building  upon  his  hill  will  long 
be  remembered  as  "  Ben  Bradley's  Meeting-house."  This 
was  a  caricature  of  a  church  produced  by  the  transfer  of  a 
large  old  barn  to  the  top  of  the  hill.  A  gothic  or  arched 
window,  such  as  usually  is  placed  in  the  end  of  a  church 
building,  was  placed  conspicuously  in  the  middle  of  the 
side,  a  belfry  and  tower  surmounted  by  a  painted  weath- 
ercock graced  the  front,  and  the  old  and  time-honored 
pulpit,  once  almost  hallowed  by  the  prayers  and  sermons 
of  the  venerable  Father  Grafton  of  Newton,  adorned  the 
inside. 

A  part  of  this  structure  he  finished  off  for  tenements 
and  let  them  to  Irish  families  ;  the  rest  he  used  for  a  car- 
penter's shop.  In  this  shop,  by  way  of  keeping  life 
cheerful,  he  had  a  coffin  which  he  used  to  try  occasion- 
ally, to  see  if  it  fitted  him,  but  growing  too  corpulent, 
long  before  he  needed  such  an  indispensable  article,  he 
had  a  larger  one  made.  He  made  the  old  coffin  ser- 
viceable for  some  time  by  placing  it  on  end,  putting  in 
one  or  two  shelves  and  using  it  as  a  closet  for  his  liquors. 
It  was  finally  sold  to  one  of  his  tenants. 

On  Sundays  he  sometimes  gathered  around  him  a  crowd 
of  "  the  baser  sort,"  and  mounting  the  old  pulpit,  he  held 
forth  in  harangues  more  profane  and  ludicrous  than  wise 
or  useful,  ending  with  a  treat  to  his  audience. 

The  old  building  surrounded  by  little  houses  was  so 
conspicuous  an  object  that  strangers  coming  to  town 
almost  invariably  asked  what  denomination  occupied  that 
hill. 


BEN   BRADLEY.  197 

The  principal  part  of  the  settlement  near  Jamaica  Pond, 
known  as  "  Grab  Village,"  "  Dublin,"  "  New  Ireland," 
etc.,  was  built  by  Mr.  Bradley.  He  purchased  the  land 
and  put  up  a  little  red  house  in  full  view  of  Mr.  Thomas 
Lee's  residence,  and  then  went  to  Mr.  Lee  and  desired 
him  to  buy  it  at  a  great  price.  Mr.  Lee  would  do  no  such 
thing  ;  whereupon  Mr.  Bradley  proceeded  to  cover  it  with 
little  houses.  Mr.  Lee  set  out  shade  trees  along  his  own 
lawn,  on  the  edge  of  the  hill,  and  serenely  sat  down  in 
their  shadow,  too  independent  to  be  annoyed  by  so  small 
dealing  a  neighbor. 

The  two  little  houses  opposite  the  Philbrick  place  on 
Walnut  Street  are  specimens  of  his  handiwork  in  a  good 
neighborhood  ;  and  there  was  a  time  when  he  owned  or 
held  mortgages  upon  considerable  property  in  the  vil- 
lage. Though  not  dependent  upon  his  trade  he  went 
about  with  a  tool-box  on  his  arm,  in  garments  that  made 
him  look  poorer  than  his  poorest  tenant.  Mr.  Bradley 
was  married  twice  if  not  more,  but  left  no  heirs  nearer 
than  cousins.  The  hill  was  sold  before  his  death  to  Mr. 
Hart. 

Captain  Bradley  died  July  31,  1856. 
In  his  will  he  left  five  hundred  dollars  for  the  poor  of 
the  town,  but  it  could  not  be  made  available.  There 
were  strange  contradictions  in  the  character  of  this  singu- 
lar man.  He  was  genial  and  kindly  with  the  poor,  and 
old  people  and  little  children  ;  and  with  all  his  faults  he 
had  many  redeeming  qualities.  His  keen  sense  of  the 
ludicrous  and  his  innate  lack  of  reverence,  made  him  turn 
to  ridicule  much  that  others  held  sacred  ;  yet  there  were 
times  when  the  better  impulses  in  his  nature  seemed  strug- 
gling for  the  mastery;  and  there  are  people  still  living 
to  whom  he  frankly  confessed  his  faults,  and  owned  his 
struggles  after  a  better  life.  He  had  an  opportunity  to 


198  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NK. 

make  himself  a  beloved  and  respected  landlord ;  and  the 
hill,  so  beautiful  for  its  prospect  and  fine  air,  might  be 
to-day  covered  with  the  neat  and  well-kept  dwellings  of  a 
respectable  class  of  mechanics  and  laborers,  had  he  used 
his  means  as  he  might  have  done,  and  left  a  memory  to 
be  honored. 

Perhaps  a  slight  difference  in  the  training  of  his  boy- 
hood might  have  prevented  the  moral  kink  which  twisted 
his  finer  traits  awry ;  and  might  have  made  him  a  bless- 
ing to  the  community  instead  of  what  he  was. 

Let  us  leave  him  with  "  Him  who  seeth  not  as  man 
seeth,"  and  who  alone  knows  the  heart.* 

*  The  hill  was  sold  again  in  1871  to  the  Gocldard  heirs,  and  the  houses  moved 
to  Sewall  Street,  a  locality  which  has  since  been  known  as  "  Hart's  Content." 


BRIGHTON    STREET.  199 


CHAPTER   XI. 

BOYLSTON    AND     BRIGHTON     STREETS.  WALNUT     STREET. 

HOUSES     ALONG     THE     LOWER     PART.  THE     WALLEY     OR 

BIRD    HOUSES    THE    CLARK    HOUSE. THE    CEMETERY. 

PERHAPS  we  owe  our  readers  an  apology  for  detain- 
ing them  so  long  on  Bradley 's  Hill,  but  the  summer 
winds  have  swept  over  its  now  houseless  summit,  and  the 
winter  snows  have  spread  their  purest  mantle  over  it. 
Moreover,  the  prospect  from  it  is  very  beautiful,  so  we 
will  take  a  look  and  pass  on.  All  the  interesting  old 
places  from  Bradley's  Hill  to  the  points  of  divergence,  at 
Brighton  Street  and  Heath  Street,  are  properly  a  part  of 
the  history  of  "the  old  road,"  and  as  such  we  shall  leave 
them  till  we  write  of  that.  Above  this  point  the  Wor- 
cester Turnpike  begins  again  ;  and  consequently  there  are 
no  houses  upon  it  which  date  back  to  a  very  early  period. 
Most  of  the  land  through  which  this  section  of  the  turn- 
pike passes,  has  been  for  the  last  fifty  years  the  property 
of  the  Penni mans,  Heaths,  Sandersons,  and  Lymans. 

Brighton  Street  was  laid  out  as  a  road-way  from  the 
"  old  Sherburne  road  "  to  Brighton,  more  than  a  hundred 
and  fifty  years  ago. 

The  first  house  on  this  street  stood  on  the  east  side, 
nearly  opposite  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  J.  Loring. 
In  it  lived  Addington  Gardner,  once  a  prominent  citizen 
of  the  town,  and  whose  signature,  not  unlike  John  Han- 
cock's of  Revolutionary  fame,  in  its  appearance,  is  famil- 


200  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

iar  to  those  who  have  seen  many  old  legal  documents  of 
the  town.  He  married  a  sister  of  Rev.  Mr.  Allen,  the 
first  minister  of  this  town,  and  removed  to  Sherborn. 
He  was  a  justice  of  the  peace. 

The  next  house  was  that  of  Isaac  Gardner,  first  deacon 
of  the  First  Church  in  the  town.  He  died  in  1767,  aged 
eighty-three  years. 

His  son  Isaac  inherited  the  house,  and  was  in  little 
more  than  a  year  after  his  father's  death  rendered  home- 
less by  fire.  The  family  was  very  large,  consisting  of 
eighteen  persons,  and  nearly  all  their  household  goods 
were  destroyed.  The  loss  was  estimated,  as  appears  by 
the  "  Massachusetts  Gazette  "  of  September  8,  1768,  at 
from  four  to  five  thousand  pounds,  O.  T.  The  people  of 
the  town  met  on  the  following  Monday  (the  fire  was  on 
Friday),  and  though  there  were  at  that  time  but  fifty 
families  in  the  town,  they  contributed  one  hundred 
pounds,  toward  helping  Mr.  Gardner  to  rebuild  his  house. 
When  it  is  remembered  that  this  was  when  the  country 
was  comparatively  new,  that  the  people  of  Brookline  were 
nearly  all  farmers,  and  that  it  was  also  at  the  time  when 
the  colonies  were  groaning  and  impoverished  under  Brit- 
ish taxation,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Brookline  of  those 
days  was  generous  and  prompt  to  relieve  distress  as  well 
as"  the  richer  and  more  prosperous  Brookline  of  the 
present. 

The  new  house  was  built  upon  the  old  site.  Mr.  Isaac 
Gardner  was  educated  at  Harvard  College,  but  he  chose 
to  follow  the  agricultural  pursuit  of  his  father.  He  was 
a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  in  every  capacity,  civil,  social, 
and  religious,  was  a  popular  and  much  beloved  citizen. 

The  slowly-brewing  troubles  of  the  coming  Revolution 
fired  his  patriotic  blood,  and  the  people  of  the  town  made 
him  captain  of  their  militia. 


CAPTAIN  ISAAC  GARDNER.  201 

On  the  morning  of  the  battle  of  Lexington  the  minute- 
men  of  Brookline  assembled  in  front  of  the  church. 
Their  captain,  always  before  so  bright  and  cheerful,  was 
under  the  shadow  of  a  great  oppression.  As  he  took 
leave  of  his  wife  and  his  eight  children,  his  impression 
that  it  was  his  final  leave-taking  so  overpowered  him  that 
he  could  not  conceal  it,  and  he  told  his  wife  that  he  should 
never  return  to  her  alive.  Before  he  reached  the  church 
he  met  the  wife  of  Deacon  Davis,  who  with  her  little  chil- 
dren in  a  chaise,  was  hastening  for  safety  to  the  upper 
part  of  the  town.  He  stopped  and  spoke  to  her,  asking 
her  to  call  on  her  way  and  try  to  console  his  wife  whom 
he  had  left  weeping  at  the  gate. 

The  brave  and  handsome  captain  was  in  the  prime  of 
life  and  "  every  inch  a  soldier,"  but  his  war-record  was 
brief  indeed.  Before  night  he  fell,  pierced  by  six  British 
bullets  while  drinking  at  a  well  in  Cambridge,  about  a 
mile  above  the  College  on  the  Lexington  road. 

Dr.  Aspinwall  and  Mr.  Ebenezer  Davis  cared  for  the 
body  as  well  as  they  could  that  night.  The  sad  news 
was  brought  home  to  Brookline,  and  the  next  morning 
Mr.  Heath,  his  neighbor,  went  to  Cambridge  with  his 
wagon  and  brought  home  to  the  afflicted  family  all  that 
remained  of  the  beloved  husband  and  father.  The  whole 
town  was  plunged  into  grief  at  the  loss  of  so  beloved  and 
respected  a  citizen. 

His  age  was  forty-nine  years.  His  son,  General  Isaac 
Sparhawk  Gardner,  was  the  next  owner  of  the  house.  He 
was  an  unusually  fine  singer,  and  for  many  years  was 
leader  of  the  choir  of  the  First  Church.  Dr.  Pierce  in 
his  Jubilee  Address  speaks  of  him  as  "  the  sweet  singer 
of  our  Israel."  He  died  in  1818. 

General  Gardner  had  ten  children.  At  the  birth  of 
each  he  planted  a  tree  within  his  land  beside  the  road. 
u 


202  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

The  whole  row  had  grown  to  ample  size  and  beauty,  but 
were  destroyed  at  the  recent  widening  of  the  street.* 
The  descendants  of  the  Gardners,  bearing  other  names, 
still  live  in  our  community. 

The  house  was  at  one  time  owned  by  Mr.  Elisha  Penni- 
man,  and  afterwards  by  Deacon  Daniel  Sanderson.  Mr. 
Sanderson,  though  not  a  native  of  Brookline,  lived  here 
many  years,  held  various  town  offices,  and  was  a  promi- 
nent member  of  the  Baptist  Church.  He  built  two  houses 
on  the  west  side  of  Brighton  Street. 

On  the  east  side  of  the  street,  there  formerly  stood 
north  of  the  Gardner  house,  a  house  owned  and  occupied 
by  John  Seaver,  who  died  before  the  Revolutionary  war. 
His  house  was  torn  down  on  account  of  its  great  age,  early 
in  the  present  century. 

WALNUT   STREET. 

This  street,  known  for  years  as  "  the  old  Sherburne 
road,"  is  the  oldest  in  the  town,  and  was  probably  one 
of  the  first  roads  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay. 
When  it  was  extended  as  far  as  Framingham,  then  the 
outmost  frontier  of  civilization,  it  was  considered  the  ne 
plus  ultra  of  Colonial  necessity  in  that  direction,  as  it 
was  not  probable  that  white  people  would  ever  penetrate 
further  west  into  the  wilderness.  And  it  was  little  better 
at  first  than  an  Indian  trail,  winding  as  it  did  from  the 
humble  abode  of  one  settler  to  another,  between  high, 
thick  forest's,  out  of  which  might  echo  at  any  moment  the 
cry  of  the  prowling  wolf  or  the  more  dreaded  war  whoop 
of  the  red  man. 

*  There  is  a  local  tradition  that  at  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Lexington,  Isaac 
Gardner's  family  was  living  in  the  ancient  Gardner  house  now  occupied  by 
George  W.  Stearns,  but  his  descendants  have  no  evidence  that  he  ever  lived 
there,  and  Dr.  Pierce,  who  received  his  information  from  persons  who  remem- 
bered all  the  circumstances,  locates  him  at  the  Brighton  Street  house,  where  his 
son  set  out  the  trees.  See  Appendix,  house  26,  Town  Hall  Address. 


WALNUT   STREET.  203 

Yet  less  than  twenty  years  had  passed  after  William 
Blackstone  had  settled  in  Shawmut,  and  called  it  Tri- 
mountain,  before  Muddy  River  Hamlet  had  three  high- 
ways leading  through  it,  and  our  Walnut  Street  began  to 
be  called  "  the  old  road." 

The  land  from  the  lower  end,  or  entrance  of  the  street, 
on  the  right  side  as  far  up  as  the  alley  now  known  as 
"  Cat  Alley,"  and  on  the  left  or  south  side,  nearly  or 
quite  to  Sewall  Street,  was  probably  "the  great  lott," 
which  was  granted  to  Thomas  Leverett,  and  was  after- 
wards for  many  years  the  property  of  Governor  Leverett 
and  was  used  by  him  for  pasture  lots  for  his  cattle  and 
sheep.  Northward  it  was  bounded  by  the  lands  of  the 
Cottons.  How  far  southward  this  "  great  lott "  extended 
we  cannot  learn,  but  there  were  one  hundred  and  seventy- 
five  acres  of  it  and  somewhere  upon  it  stood  a  house. 
The  Governor,  John  Leverett,  inherited  it  from  his  father, 
Thomas.  He  was  Governor  from  1671  to  1673. 

Sometime,  but  at  what  date  we  cannot  learn,  a  part  of 
this  land  came  into  possession  of  the  Whites.  It  is  so 
often  necessary  to  allude  to  this  once  numerous  family 
that  perhaps  it  is  proper  to  explain  that  the  common  an- 
cestor of  the  Brookline  families  of  this  name,  whichever 
way  it  is  spelled,  was  John  White,  born  in  England  and 
who  is  traced  to  Dorchester,  to  Watertown,  and  thence  to 
Brookline.  From  him  descended  Major  Edward  White, 
and  all  the  rest,  some  of  the  family  having  gone  back  to 
the  original  spelling  of  the  name  as  ascertained  in  English 
records  to  be  Whyte. 

All  the  early  settlements  on  this  road  were  from  about 
the  head  of  Cypress  Street  and  so  on  westward,  for  many 
years.  The  whole  history  of  the  lower  part  of  the  road 
is  comparatively  modern.  The  garrison-house  for  the  set- 
tlement, when  it  was  so  small  and  so  exposed  as  to  need  a 


204  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   LROOKLINE. 

garrison-house,  was  just  behind  the  present  house  of  the 
Clark  family  on  the  left  of  the  entrance  to  Chestnut 
Street. 

As  some  of  our  younger  readers  may  not  have  met  with 
a  description  of  this  sort  of  house  we  will  briefly  de- 
scribe it  in  passing.  It  was  a  log-house,  with  one  door 
but  no  windows  in  the  lower  story.  The  upper  story 
projected  over  the  lower,  three  or  four  feet  on  all  sides. 
This  was  fort  and  storehouse  for  the  whole  settlement, 
and  into  it  were  huddled  the  women  and  children  in  all 
cases  of  alarm  from  the  Indians.  In  the  projecting  floor 
of  the  upper  story  were  loop-holes,  from  which  the  boards 
could  be  taken  up,  and  through  which  the  women  could 
pour  down  boiling  water  upon  the  savages  in  case  they 
came  close  to  the  building  to  set  it  on  fire. 

Whether  the  Brookline  garrison-house  was  ever  thus 
attacked  and  defended,  we  have  unfortunately  no  histori- 
cal records  in  existence  to  tell  us.  Of  the  wild  animals 
which  made  personal  defense  necessary,  there  is  sufficient 
evidence,  in  the  fact  that  a  premium  of  twenty  shillings 
was  paid  to  Philip  Curtis  for  killing  a  wolf,  in  November, 
1657. 

It  needs  therefore  no  great  stretch  of  imagination  to 
picture  to  the  mind  one  of  the  ancient  Whites,  Goddards, 
Aspinwalls,  or  Griggses,  riding  on  horseback  on  a  Sun- 
day morning,  with  his  wife  on  a  pillion  behind,  and  his 
musket  strapped  across  his  shoulders,  winding  along  the 
narrow  and  thickly  wooded  road  to  Roxbury  meeting- 
house to  hear  the  Apostle  Eliot  preach  ;  or  returning  at 
nightfall  along  the  same  way,  with  a  furtive  glance  toward 
the  darkening  shades  of  the  stone-quarries  then  unbroken 
by  the  hammer,  lest  the  sly  panther  in  the  boughs  of 
some  overhanging  oak  might  pounce  upon  him  from  its 
dusky  retreat ;  or  a  pack  of  wolves  baying  with  hunger 


MR.   THOMAS   ASPINWALL.  205 

in  the  wilds  of  Parker's  Hill,  or  the  Ward  farm,  should 
scent  human  prey  and  come  out  upon  its  trail. 

But  though,  as  we  have  said,  the  lower  end  of  Walnut 
Street  was  not  built  upon  till  many  years  later  than  the 
upper  part  of  it,  there  are  some  houses  which  have  ac- 
quired age  enough  to  need  mention  and  we  therefore  re- 
turn to  the  beginning  of  the  street. 

The  house  now  used  as  the  Infant  Asylum  was  built 
early  in  the  present  century  for  a  man  named  Eliphalet 
Spurr,  who  owned  the  line  of  coaches  which  in  those  days 
made  daily  trips  to  Boston. 

The  coaches  ran  from  the  "  Punch  Bowl."  Mr.  Spurr 
sold  out  to  Azariah  Fuller  after  a  while,  but  whether  Mr. 
Fuller  ever  occupied  the  house  or  not  we  are  not  informed, 
nor  of  anything  further  in  its  history  till  it  became  the 
property  of  Thomas  and  Elizabeth  Aspinwall,  children  of 
Colonel  Thomas  Aspinwall  who  lived  in  the  house  on 
Sewall  Avenue  which  was  at  last  burnt,  and  who  was 
commander  at  the  fort  on  Sewall's  Point. 

"  Mr.  Thomas  and  Miss  Eliza,"  as  they  were  commonly 
called,  lived  for  many  years  in  the  house  on  Walnut 
Street.  Mr.  Thomas  was  deaf  and  dumb,  but  like  many 
others  thus  afflicted,  his  other  faculties  seemed  sharpened 
to  unusual  acuteness.  He  was  for  years  thoroughly  iden- 
tified with  the  village  and  its  surroundings,  learned  all  the 
news,  and  every  morning  walked  up  to  the  house  of  his 
elder  sister,  Mrs.  Holden  (who  lived  where  Mr.  Panter 
now  lives),  and  told  her  upon  his  fingers  all  the  items  of 
interest  which  he  had  collected. 

Mr.  Aspinwall  loved  his  garden  and  cultivated  it  with 
his  own  hands  with  much  success,  and  evident  enjoyment 
of  flowers,  fruits,  and  vegetables.  He  had  quite  a  genius 
for  mechanical  employments  and  was  very  skillful  in  the 
use  of  tools.  Mr.  Aspinwall  inherited  from  his  father 


20G  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

some  land  where  Longwood  Station  now  stands.  About 
the  time  the  Brooklirie  Branch  Railroad  was  projected, 
this  land  was  purchased  for  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars 
an  acre.  It  has  since  been  sold  for  seventy-five  cents  a 
foot. 

He  was  already  quite  far  advanced  in  life  when  the 
Hartford  Institution  for  such  unfortunates  was  founded, 
yet  having  heard  of  it  he  desired  to  receive  its  benefits. 
He  stayed  but  a  little  while  and  then  returned,  and  when 
met  by  a  look  of  inquiry  from  any  of  his  friends,  he  shook 
his  head  sorrowfully  and  touched  the  wrinkles  upon  his 
forehead.  Yet  he  was  a  cheerful  man,  and  always  espe- 
cially kind  to  children  and  interested  in  them ;  "  Uncle 
Thomas,"  many  of  them  called  him,  and  so  indeed  did 
many  who  were  past  childhood.  New  inventions  and  im- 
provements awakened  his  keen  interest.  The  writer  re- 
members in  her  childhood  meeting  "  Uncle  Thomas," 
near  the  door  of  Lyceum  Hall  building,  which  was  then 
nearly  finished ;  the  stairway  at  that  time  went  up 
through  a  commodious  entry  which  has  since  been  turned 
into  a  shop.  The  old  gentleman  instantly  began  to  ges- 
ticulate with  delight ;  he  had  discovered  something  new 
to  him,  and  he  would  have  us  share  his  pleasure.  He 
took  us  into  the  entry  and  pointed  out  the  hole  in  the 
floor,  at  which  the  furnace  pipe  was  to  come  through,  and 
with  all  the  animation  of  a  boy,  described  with  his  nim- 
ble fingers  the  fire  that  was  to  burn  in  the  unseen  depths 
below,  and  the  heat  that  was  to  come  up  and  be  diffused 
through  the  building. 

He  saw  that  he  was  understood,  and  with  a  gesture  of 
satisfaction  put  back  the  board  that  covered  the  hole,  and 
bowing,  walked  away  with  his  hands  behind  him. 

He  was  very  religious,  and  greatly  interested  in  all  the 
missionary  and  other  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  church. 


THE   HUNDREDTH   HOUSE.  207 

He  had  one  spot  where  he  knelt  to  pray,  year  after  year, 
two  or  three  times  every  day,  till  the  floor  was  worn  thin 
where  the  toes  of  his  shoes  rested.  What  secret  wrest- 
lings with  sorrow  and  pain,  what  humble  confessions  or 
heaven-born  aspirations  were  wafted  upwards  in  those 
silent  communings  none  ever  knew  or  will  know ;  but 
that  they  were  heard  in  "  the  secret  places  of  the  Most 
High,"  while  many  a  sounding  and  wordy  prayer  falls 
baffled  by  the  way,  none  but  the  irreverent  can  doubt. 

Miss  Eliza,  his  constant  companion,  sank  in  consump- 
tion and  died  in  the  year  1842,  aged  64.  Her  silent 
brother  survived  her  but  little  more  than  a  year,  and  died 
of  the  same  disease  in  December,  1843,  aged  74.  His 
benevolent  face  and  affable  manners  had  won  for  him  a 
niche  in  the  tender  memories  of  all  who  knew  him. 
Since  the  Aspinwalls  passed  away,  the  house  has  had 
many  different  occupants,  and  has  been  modernized  and 
greatly  improved  within  a  few  years. 

The  old-fashioned,  white  English  roses,  with  their  pe- 
culiar fragrance,  are  somehow  always  associated  in  our 
memory  with  Mr.  Thomas  Aspinwall  and  his  sister,  and 
the  same  bushes  which  he  trained  beside  the  door  were 
very  recently  growing  there  and  may  be  still. 

The  next  house  standing  upon  the  lower  part  of  Wal- 
nut Street  was  upon  the  Philbrick  place.  It  was  built 
by  John  Tappan  in  1821,  and  was  the  one  hundredth 
house  built  in  Brookline.  Mr.  Tappan  was  not  long  a 
resident  here,  and  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  William  Ropes 
who  lived  here  eight  or  ten  years,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Mr.  Samuel  Philbrick,  who  identified  himself  with  the 
interests  of  the  town.  He  held  various  offices  at  differ- 
ent times,  being  an  Assessor,  a  member  of  the  Board  of 
Selectmen,  and  also  of  the  School  Committee. 

The  next  house  upon  the  same  side   of    the   street, 


208  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

though  built  a  year  earlier,  was  that  now  occupied  by 
Mr.  Cobb.  It  was  built  by  Rev.  Henry  Colman,  who 
studied  theology  with  Dr.  Pierce,  was  afterwards  settled 
for  several  years  over  a  church  in  Hingham,  and  then 
returned  to  Brookline. 

During  several  years  of  his  residence  here,  he  was 
principal  of  a  select  school  for  young  ladies  in  Boston. 
He  was  afterwards  pastor  of  the  Barton  Square  Church 
in  Salem,  and  died  there. 

After  Mr.  Colman  it  was  occupied  by  Captain  Oxnard, 
Henry  J.  Oliver,  Hezekiah  Kendall  (a  son  of  Deacon 
Thomas  Kendall),  and  since  then  by  various  others. 

The  large  stone  house  next  beyond  it,  was  built  by 
Joseph  Sewall,  a  descendant  of  Judge  Sewall,  whose 
history  was  given  earlier  in  the  course  of  these  sketches. 
The  grounds  belonging  to  this  place  were  quite  exten- 
sive. Mr.  Sewall  lived  here  ten  or  twelve  years,  and  his 
wife  and  three  daughters  died  here. 

Sewall  Street,  as  the  upper  part  of  Cypress  Street  was 
called,  until  the  recent  widening  and  extension,  was  but 
a  narrow  lane  leading  from  Walnut  Street  to  the  back 
part  of  the  Sewall  place,  and  the  wooded  lands  in  the 
rear,  and  did  not  become  a  public  way  until  within  the 
last  quarter  of  a  century.  It  was  a  part  of  the  "  great 
lott  of  land  "  assigned  to  Governor  Leverett,  and  after- 
wards became  the  property  of  a  branch  of  the  White 
family.  Mr.  Thomas  White's  heirs  were  the  last  of  this 
family  who  owned  any  portion  of  it.  It  was  accessible 
(within  the  memory  of  middle  aged  persons)  by  one  of 
the  most  picturesque  and  beautiful  of  lanes,  which  led 
into  a  wild  and  tangled  woodland.  There  was  a  path 
leading  up  the  hill  from  where  the  lane  ended,  to  the 
fence  on  the  boundary  of  the  estate  of  the  late  Thomas 
Lee.  Through  this  there  was  an  opening  of  which  many 


THE   SEWALL   PLACE.  209 

availed  themselves  for  convenience  of  access  to  Jamaica 
Pond.  •  A  large  tract  of  land  now  under  cultivation  or 
covered  with  the  houses  of  Hart's  Irish  settlement,  trans- 
ferred thither  from  Bradley 's  Hill,  was  a  thicket  of 
alders,  dogwood,  and  wild  rose-bushes.  Chestnut  Street 
was  not  constructed  at  that  time,  and  the  whole  area  of 
scores  of  acres  was  untraversed  except  by  the  single  cart 
path  we  have  mentioned,  leading  from  Walnut  Street  to 
the  log  bridge,  and  thence  by  a  footpath  to  the  Lee 
place. 

The  brook  wandered  at  its  own  will,  overflowing  the 
surface  except  in  the  dry  midsummer ;  a  rude  bridge  of 
three  or  four  logs  was  the  only  means  of  crossing  it,  and 
often  this  was  not  accessible  from  either  side  on  account 
of  the  deep,  black  mud. 

This  wooded  tract  was  a  secure  harbor  for  innumerable 
snakes,  of  whose  size  and  numbers,  as  reported  by  fre- 
quenters of  the  location,  we  shall  give  no  account  lest 
we  be  suspected  of  Munchausenism. 

Before  Chestnut  Street  was  opened,  this  region  had 
been  partially  cleared  and  drained,  and  the  making  of 
that  street  and  the  continuation  of  the  lane,  or  Sewall 
Street,  through  to  connect  with  it,  altered  the  whole  face 
of  the  country. 

There  are  many  men  in  town,  not  yet  old,  who  will 
recall  delightful  nutting  excursions  and  rustic  adventures 
in  this  wild  and  woody  region.  About  thirty  years  ago 
a  camp  meeting  of  four  days'  continuance  was  held  in  the 
only  piece  of  "  clearing  "  in  these  woods.  It  was  acces- 
sible only  through  Sewall's  lane.  Of  the  success  of  the 
affair  we  think  there  could  not  be  much  to  boast,  as  the 
nearness  to  Boston  made  it  altogether  too  convenient  for 
a  class  of  persons  not  drawn  there  by  any  religious  pro- 
clivities. 


210  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  widening  and  extension  of  the  lane  made  this 
beautiful  rural  region  accessible  for  carriages,  but  it  has 
had  its  day  as  a  quiet  and  shady  drive.  The  widening 
and  the  class  of  houses  established  upon  the  upper  part 
of  it  have  changed  its  whole  character,  and  this  part  of 
Brookline  will  with  the  present  generation  cease  to  be 
remembered  "  as  it  was,"  and  be  no  pleasure  to  contem- 
plate as  it  is. 

The  Sewall  house  was  occupied  after  the  Sewalls'  re- 
moval by  John  Tilson,  who  resided  for  some  years  in  the 
stone  house  near  the  comer  of  Sewall  and  Walnut  streets. 
This  family  will  be  remembered  by  all  who  knew  the 
three  sons,  John,  Charles,  and  Robert,  in  the  Brookline 
schoolg.  John  Tilson  held  a  colonel's  commission  during 
the  late  war,  and  was  under  General  Sherman  in  his 
famous  march  through  Georgia.  Colonel  Tilson  bore  an 
honorable  record  during  the  war,  and  at  its  close  was 
retained  in  the  service  with  the  rank  of  major.  He  sub- 
sequently resigned.  Mr.  Tilson,  senior,  sold  the  wood- 
land above  mentioned,  and  Hugh  R.  Kendall,  a  later 
owner,  began  the  first  improvements,  in  clearing  and 
opening  this  retired  region  to  the  public. 

Deacon  Lambert  was  at  one  time  a  resident  in  the 
stone  house.  The  heirs  of  the  late  Nathan  Hale  also 
resided  here  for  some  time  previous  to  Mr.  Fisher,  the 
present  occupant. 

The  opposite  corner  of  Sewall  and  Walnut  streets  was 
for  many  years,  within  the  memory  of  present  inhabi- 
tants, the  property  of  Jerathmeel  Davenport.  On  this 
lot,  near  the  street,  stood  the  house  of  the  first  minister 
of  Brookline,  the  Rev.  James  Allen.  He  was  a  native 
of  Roxbury,  but  came  here  to  live  and  to  preach  in  1718, 
and  continued  here  till  his  death  in  1748. 

His  house,  which  was  a  very  old  one,  was  torn  down 


THE   WALLEY   PLACE.  211 

before  the  close  of  the  last  century,  but  some  roses  and 
sweet-briers  which  he  set  out  continued  to  grow  from 
the  old  roots  beside  the  stone  wall,  until  within  a  few 
years.  This  ground  is  now  in  the  middle  of  the  street. 

THE   WALLEY   PLACE. 

The  estate  known  for  many  years  as  "  the  Walley 
place,"  comprised  all  that  is  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of 
the  late  Jesse  Bird,  and  extended  westward  nearly  to  the 
boundary  of  the  place  now  occupied  by  N.  G.  Chapin,  and 
across  Boylston  Street  which  was  not  then  built,  includ- 
ing all  that  has  since  been  known  as  Bradley 's  Hill. 

The  house,  which  stood  on  the  site  of  the  one  now  oc- 
cupied by  the  family  of  the  late  William  Bird,  was  built 
in  1750.  It  was  designed  to  be  the  residence  of  the 
Rev.  Cotton  Brown,  the  second  minister  of  Brookline. 

Mr.  Brown  was  a  brother  of  the  mother  of  Peter  C. 
Brooks  of  Boston.  Another  of  his  sisters  was  the  second 
wife  of  Daniel  Dana,  who  lived  where  the  Public  Library 
now  stands. 

Mr.  Brown  was  the  successor  of  Rev.  James  Allen,  and 
was  engaged  to  marry  his  daughter  Mary,  a  very  lovely 
and  beautiful  young  lady. 

Mr.  Allen  owned,  besides  the  house  which  he  occupied, 
(before  mentioned)  an  old  house  which  stood  west  of 
the  present  Bird  house,  in  what  is  now  the  garden  of  that 
place. 

It  was  occupied  by  John  Hammond.  After  the  death 
of  Mr.  Allen  this  house  was  taken  down,  and  the  solid 
oaken  timbers  being  of  enormous  size  and  in  excellent 
preservation,  were  used  in  building  the  new  house  for 
the  young  couple. 

But  they  were  destined  never  to  occupy  it.  A  singular 
fatality  seemed  to  follow  the  family. 


212  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

Mr.  Allen  died  in  1747,  his  wife  in  1748,  their  only  son 
in  1749,  and  the  daughter,  the  last  of  her  family,  in  1750. 

The  young  minister  to  whom  she  was  engaged  died  in 
1751,  at  the  age  of  twenty-five,  and  the  house  which  was 
to  have  been  the  parsonage,  and  had  been  the  centre  of 
so  many  bright  hopes,  passed  into  other  hands. 

It  became  the  property  of  Henry  Sewall,  a  grandson 
of  Chief  Justice  Sewall,  of  this  town,  but  whether  he 
ever  occupied  it  or  not  we  have  no  means  of  knowing. 
It  was  occupied  for  several  years  by  Dea.  Elisha  Gard- 
ner of  the  first  church.  After  Mr.  Sewall's  death  it  was 
inherited  by  Mrs.  Walcott,  another  of  the  Sewalls. 

In  the  year  1796,  the  house  was  still  the  property  of 
Mrs.  Walcott,  but  before  1800  it  was  sold. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  last  century  the  house  was 
purchased  by  Thomas  Walley,  a  merchant  of  Boston,  with 
ample  wealth  and  cultivated  tastes.  The  grounds  west 
of  the  house  were  covered  with  a  beautiful  growth  of 
chestnut  and  walnut  trees.  Back  of  the  parsonage  on 
the  rising  ground  near  the  site  of  the  house  of  M.  P.  Ken- 
nard,  Mr.  Walley  had  a  summer-house  built.  The  brook 
wound  its  way  through  the  grounds  uncurbed  by  walls, 
and  the  wild  flowers  of  every  season  grew  in  native  lux- 
uriance. The  place  was  a  delightful  resort  for  the  few 
children  of  the  neighborhood. 

The  house  stood  upon  the  same  raised  bank  which  is 
there  at  present,  and  had  a  broad  piazza  on  two  sides. 
On  the  west  end  the  front  room  had  a  projecting  alcove 
with  two  or  three  windows  in  it.  Mrs.  Walley  was  a 
French  lady  from  Martinique,  of  Catholic  faith.  There 
was  no  Catholic  church  at  that  time  nearer  than  Federal 
Street  in  Boston,  and  the  large  west  room  was  fitted  as  a 
private  chapel  for  the  family  according  to  the  forms  of  the 
Catholic  church.  There  was  an  agreement  between  the 


THE   WALLEY   PLACE.  213 

parents  that  the  sons  should  be  educated  in  the  religious 
faith  of  their  father  and  the  daughters  in  that  of  their 
mother.  But  before  many  years  Mr.  "VV alley  also  embraced 
the  religion  of  his  children.  Of  the  two  children  who 
still  survive  one  is  a  Catholic  and  the  other  an  Episcopa- 
lian. 

Bishop  Chevereux  was  a  frequent  visitor  at  the  house 
and  the  Oratory  was  his  appropriate  apartment. 

There  were  several  children  in  the  family,  and  for  the 
convenience  of  his  own  daughters  and  those  of  his  neigh- 
bors Mr.  Walley  built'a  school-house  on  his  own  grounds, 
fronting  on  Cypress  Street  near  the  corner  of  Boylston 
Street. 

This  school  was  taught  by  Miss  Stebbins  for  many 
years.  Several  branches  were  taught  here  which  were 
not  then  taught  in  the  public  schools,  embroidery  and  sam- 
pler working  included. 

The  fine  arts  also  received  a  due  share  of  attention  in 
the  elaboration  of  certain  melancholy  pictures,  such  as 
may  occasionally  be  found  in  a  country  farm-house  cham- 
ber, or  perhaps  even  now  stored  away  among  the  lumber 
of  some  Brookline  attic.  A  church-front  with  a  path 
leading  up  to  it,  on  either  side  of  which  stands  a  white 
monument  surmounted  by  an  urn  and  overhung  by  a 
very  green,  heavy,  weeping  willow.  Two  wretched  fe- 
males in  trailing  dresses,  stand  one  by  each  monument 
weeping,  in  identical  attitudes.  In  families  already 
broken  by  death,  pathos  was  added  to  the  painted  scene 
by  an  inscription  of  the  name  and  date  of  the  sad  event. 

In  families  still  in  the  joy  of  a  full  circle  the  artist  left 
a  blank  under  "  In  Memory  of"  —  and  as  the  dismal  re- 
minder hung  upon  the  parlor  walls,  the  thought  must 
sometimes  have  intruded  unbidden  upon  hours  of  pleas- 
ure, of  whose  name  should  stand  first  on  the  waiting 


214  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLIXK. 

monument  over  which  the  black-robed  females  were  ap- 
parently weeping  in  advance. 

It  would  seem  as  if  the  pathetic  and  the  ridiculous  could 
hardly  ever  be  found  in  closer  proximity  than  in  these 
absurd  pictures.  * 

One  can  only  guess  at  the  moods  induced  in  the  young 
artists  by  their  laborious  application  to  these  tasks.  A 
lady  teacher  of  painting  was  hired,  after  several  years, 
who  brought  a  higher  taste  and  better  practice  into  the 
artistic  culture  of  her  pupils.  Miss  Stebbins  was  a  good 
woman,  of  the  severely  pious  order,  and  read  her  pupils 
moral  lectures  of  amazing  length  and  dryness. 

After  several  years  Miss  Stebbins  went  to  Georgia 
where  she  taught  school,  first  in  Powelton  and  then  in 
Mt.  Zion.  She  finally  removed  to  Washington,  D.  C., 
where  she  died  several  years  ago  at  an  advanced  age.  She 
was  a  teacher  more  than  forty  years. 

After  Miss  Stebbins'  removal  Miss  Mary  Downer  con- 
tinued the  girls'  school  for  some  time. 

The  school-house  was  for  some  years  occupied  by  a  pre- 
paratory department,  for  the  Classical  School,  before  men- 
tioned, taught  by  Miss  Louisa  Reed.  The  very  building 
in  which  so  many  young  ladies  of  that  period  received 
their  book-knowledge,  worked  their  samplers,  and  painted 
their  mourning  pieces,  is  still  in  existence,  and  doing  ser- 
vice as  a  hen-house  on  Dr.  Shurtleffs  place. 

After  Mr.  Walley  removed  to  Boston  the  place  was  oc- 
cupied by  Reuben  Hunting,  who  purchased  it.  Mr.  Hunt- 
ing was  a  butcher  and  he  added  a  section  to  the  large 
barn  behind  the  house  and  there  carried  on  his  business 
for  several  years. 

He  sold  the  fine  trees  which  formed  the  grove  in  the 
westerly  part  of  his  grounds,  and  they  were  soon  all  cut 
down.  The  summer-house  was  bought  by  Captain  Brad- 


WALNUT   STREET.  215 

ley,  who  already  had  an  embryo  village,  on  the  hill  which 
he  had  bought  of  Mr.  Walley,  and  having  moved  it  to 
the  highest  part  of  the  hill  he  added  a  little  room  to  it 
and  made  a  house  of  it.  This  was  the  last  habitation 
left  on  the  hill  after  the  sale  and  removal  which  took 
place  there  in  the  spring  of  1870. 

Mr.  Hunting  lived  in  the  house  ten  years  or  more  and 
sold  it  to  Mr.  Jabez  Fisher.  During  his  residence  there 
the  large  old  barn  and  slaughter-house  building  was 
bought  by  Captain  Bradley  and  this  he  added  to  the  other 
adornments  of  his  hill.  This  was  the  building  which  he 
surmounted  with  a  steeple,  and  which  was  known  as 
"  Bradley's  meeting-house." 

Mr.  Fisher's  successor  was  the  late  Jesse  Bird. 

After  he  had  occupied  the  house  a  short  time  he  had  it 
torn  down,  and  built  the  present  house  upon  the  same 
site.  The  old  timbers  which  had  formed  a  part  of  the 
frame  of  the  Allen  house,  which  was  so  old  in  1750  that 
it  had  to  be  taken  down,  and  were  used  in  building  the 
house  for  Rev.  Cotton  Brown,  had  served  over  one  hun- 
dred years  in  the  latter  house.  The  old  mortises  made 
by  the  Muddy  River  workmen  of  two  hundred  years  ago, 
were  laid  bare  to  the  light ;  the  beams  were  in  good  pres- 
ervation, and  for  aught  we  know  are  in  existence  yet. 
The  fir  trees  in  front,  probably  as  old  as  the  house,  but 
never  ornamental,  were  cut  down  and  gave  place  to  the 
present  graceful  shade-trees  now  higher  than  the  house. 

The  grounds  were  improved  and  the  place  soon  be- 
came once  more  one  of  the  pleasantest  upon  Walnut 
Street. 

THE   CLAEK  FAMILY  AND   HOUSE. 

The  first  ancestors  of  this  old  family  traceable  in 
Muddy  River  are  James  Clark  and  his  wife  Elinor.  From 


216  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

them  in  a  direct  line  are  descended  the  families  of  the 
luti'  Deacon  Joshua  Clark,  Caleb  Clark,  and  Moses 
Jones. 

The  will  left  by  this  ancient  citizen  of  Muddy  River  is 
still  in  good  preservation,  and  is  chiefly  interesting  for 
bearing  upon  it  the  names  of  Governor  Leverett,  Simon 
liradstreet,  William  Stoughton,  and  Major  Thomas  Clark, 
perhaps  a  brother  of  James.  He  was  a  prominent  citizen 
in  those  days.  John  Sharp,  who  fell  the  next  year,  1675, 
at  Sudbury  fight,  was  also  one  of  the  witnesses. 

James  Clark  had  a  son,  Samuel,  and  there  has  ever 
since  been  a  Samuel  Clark  in  the  town  from  this  ances- 
try. The  first  of  this  name  was  born  in  1654.  The  pa- 
ternal estate  lay  on  both  sides  of  Cambridge  road,  now 
Harvard  Street,  the  house  being  near  the  site  of  the  one 
afterwards  built  by  Stephen  Sharp. 

There  were  also  marsh  lands  joining  the  possessions  of 
the  Sewalls  and  Aspinwalls,  as  well  as  woodlands  and 
pasture  lands  in  other  parts  of  the  town.  All  the  Clark 
property  in  the  vicinity  of  Harvard  Street  eventually  be- 
came the  property  of  the  Sharps. 

The  first  Samuel  Clark  was  a  wheelwright.  He  died 
in  1727,  aged  seventy-three  years.  This  is  probably  the 
person  of  whom  Judge  Sewali  speaks  in  his  diary  under 
date  of  March  12,  1684.  "  Watched,  with  Isaac  Goose 
and  Samuel  Clark.  Pleasant  night."  This  was  a  time 
when  the  Indians  were  particularly  troublesome,  and 
probably  the  watching  referred  to  was  on  their  account. 

This  Samuel  Clark  was  the  father  of  Samuel,  John,  and 
Mary.  An  old  receipt  of  John's,  given  to  Samuel,  shows 
that  their  father  was  one  of  the  Muddy  River  Company 
in  the  Canada  Expedition  in  1690.  He  was  a  near  neigh- 
bor of  the  Robert  Sharp  who  went  forth  in  that  Expedi- 
tion  and  perished  in  the  wilderness.  Samuel  Clark  it 
would  seem  returned. 


SAMUEL   CLARK.  217 

The  receipt  reads  as  follows  :  — 

May  ye  29.  1 738. 

Received  of  my  brother  Samuel  Clark  of  brookline  the  full 
and  just  sum  of  thre  pound  six  shillings  and  eight  pence  being 
the  full  of  what  came  or  fell  to  me  of  the  wright  that  befell  us 
by  the  coloy  (colony)  by  varty  (virtue)  of  our  father's  going  in 
the  exspodition  to  canady  i  the  year  1690  i  say  Received  by  me 

JOHN  CLARK. 

This  second  Samuel  Clark  was  a  carpenter,  and  built 
the  first  meeting-house  in  Brookline.  He  was  the  first 
person  who  was  published  in  the  church.  He  was  a  dea- 
con of  the  church  and  was  very  highly  respected  in  Brook- 
line.  He  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-one  years.  Died  in 
1766. 

The  Clark  house  on  Walnut  Street  at  the  corner  of 
Chestnut,  was  built  by  this  Deacon  Clark.  He  was  mar- 
ried the  year  after  the  church  was  first  gathered  in  Brook- 
line,  and  no  doubt  built  his  house  about  that  time,  as  it  is 
known  to  have  been  standing  and  occupied  by  him  a  few 
years  later,  and  is  therefore  probably  not  far  from  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  old.  Directly  behind  it,  stood  the 
house  used  for  a  garrison-house.  This  was  probably  used 
as  a  dwelling-house  afterward,  as  in  an  indenture  made  to 
Nehemiah  Davis  in  1765,  Deacon  Clark  reserves  to  him- 
self the  use  and  profit  of  "  the  two  houses,"  but  allows 
Davis  the  "  privilidge  of  keeping  sauce  in  the  cellar  of  the 
new  house  yearly." 

His  son  Samuel,  who  died  at  the  age  of  thirty-nine,  six 
years  before  his  father,  left  a  widow  who  married  a  Nich- 
ols and  went  to  Ward,  Mass.,  to  reside.  There  was  a 
Samuel  in  this  family,  the  fourth  of  the  name,  as  the 
widow  writes  to  her  son  of  that  name,  who  it  seems  was 
living  in  Brookline,  under  date  of  November  17,  1778, 

15 


218  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NK. 

(probably),  the  date  is  partly  obliterated.  We  copy  it 
for  its  quaintness,  and  the  bit  of  family  history  it  con- 
tains. 

"  LOVING  CHILD,  these  lines  come  from  your  affectionate 
mother,  almost  overwhelmed  In  trouble,  by  a  sore  and  awful,  yet 
just  dispensation  of  Providence.  It  has  pleased  God  to  take  from 
ous  our  Sun  Joshua  by  a  sudden  and  suprisen  Death,  on  the 
13th  of  this  Instent  as  he  was  a  riden  in  the  cart  suposed  to  faul 
out  and  the  wheal  run  over  him,  and  within  about  half  a  nouer 
Expired,  and  has  left  us  to  mourn  the  absence  of  his  delitesum 
coumpeny,  but  believing  that  God  who  orders  all  things  knows 
what  is  best  would  therefore  Desire  to  acquiesce  in  his  Will. 

"  I  would  therefore  as  a  mother  in  duty  to  a  child  remind  you 
the  sartainty  of  Death,  and  the  unsartenty  of  the  time  when, 
and  that  now  in  time  we  may  Be  prepared  for  Death,  and  that 
we  may  have  an  Intrest  in  him  that  has  tuck  a  way  the  sting  of 
death  which  is  sin. 

"  So  I  Remain  Your  Dutifull  Parent  till  Death. 

DEBORAH  NICKELS." 

The  Joshua  whose  .death  is  here  recorded  was  no  doubt 
a  child  of  the  second  marriage,  and  must  have  been  less 
than  ten  years  of  age,  if  the  date  is  correct. 

The  Samuel  to  whom  this  letter  was  written,  became, 
like  his  grandfather,  a  deacon  of  the  church.  He  mar- 
ried Mary,  daughter  of  Robert  Sharp,  4th.  He  lived 
to  be  sixty-one  years  of  age  and  died  in  1814,  leaving 
his  son  Caleb  possessor  of  the  homestead. 

The  fifth  Samuel,  son  of  the  deacon  last  mentioned, 
was  born  in  1 782,  and  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  Uni- 
versity in  1805.  He  taught  in  Brookline  during  his 
college  vacations,  in  the  old  brick  school-house,  of  which 
an  account  will  be  given  hereafter.  He  was  ordained  as 
a  Unitarian  minister  in  Burlington,  Vt.,  in  1810,  but 


WALNUT   STREET   CEMETERY.  219 

resigned  in  consequence  of  ill-health,  and  died  in  that 
town  in  1827,  aged  forty-five  years. 

Another  son  of  Deacon  Samuel  Clark,  was  the  late 
Deacon  Joshua  C.  Clark  of  Warren  Street  in  this  town, 
a  man  who  was  universally  beloved  through  a  long  and 
useful  life. 

An  incident  is  related  of  the  late  Deacon  Clark  in  his 
youth,  which  shows  the  unselfish  disposition  which  char- 
acterized him  through  life.  The  information  did  not 
come  from  his  own  family.  When  he  was  seventeen 
years  of  age,  Dr.  Pierce,  his  minister,  then  in  the  prime 
of  life,  was  stricken  down  with  rheumatic  fever  which 
rendered  him  perfectly  helpless.  For  six  weeks  the 
young  man  went  of  his  own  accord,  with  cheerful  devo- 
tion, three  or  four  times  every  day,  to  assist  in  turning 
the  helpless  sufferer.  Besides  this  he  rendered  other 
efficient  service.  The  same  spirit  was  manifested  through- 
out his  long  and  useful  life.  He  literally  obeyed  the 
Apostolic  injunction,  "  Do  good  as  ye  have  opportunity  " 
—  and  he  did  it  without  ostentation,  or  hope  of  re- 
wai'd. 

Deacon  Joshua  C.  Clark,  died  July  22,  1861,  aged 
eighty  years. 

An  infant  born  in  the  old  Walnut  Street  house,  in  the 
spring  of  1873,  child  of  William  and  Helen  (Clark) 
Cutler,  is  the  sixth  generation  of  one  family,  born  within 
its  walls. 

WALNUT    STREET   CEMETERY. 

On  the  26th  of  March,  1706,  "  it  was  voted  that  there 
should  be  a  burying-place  on  the  south  side  of  the  hill, 
on  Mr.  Cotton's  farm,  between  the  two  roads,  if  it  can 
be  obtained." 

This  was  the  southerly  slope  of  the  hill  near  the  head 


220  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

of  Cypress  Place.  But  it  was  not  purchased,  for  some 
reason  now  unknown,  and  the  matter  lay  over  for  about 
eleven  years.*  In  December,  1713,  it  was  "  voted  that 
Mr.  Samuel  Sewall,  Jr.,  and  Peter  Boylston  should  pro- 
cure a  pall,  or  '  burying  cloth '  at  the  town's  charge," 
and  six  pounds  were  appropriated  in  addition  to  the 
usual  annual  appropriation,  "  to  cover  the  charge  of  said 
cloth." 

In  April,  1717,  half  an  acre  of  the  ground  now  com- 
prised in  Walnut  Street  Cemetery  was  purchased  of 
Samuel  Clark,  the  carpenter  who  built  the  first  meeting- 
house, and  was  afterward  deacon  of  the  church.  This 
was  all  the  ground  thus  appropriated  for  more  than  a 
hundred  and  thirty  years. 

The  entrance,  by  a  wooden  gate,  was  in  the  centre, 
just  at  that  part  of  the  wall  where  the  monument  of  Dr. 
Pierce  stands.  The  driveway  went  in  but  a  short  dis- 
tance and  turned  to  the  left,  ending  between  the  two 
ranges  of  tombs.  A  procession  could  not  enter,  because 
there  was  no  room  for  the  carriages  to  turn  around. 

Rows  of  gravestones,  on  the  right,  of  dark  slate,  em- 
bellished with  the  skull  and  cross-bones,  came  close  up 
to  the  narrow  driveway.  These  bore  the  names  of  whole 
families  now  extinct  among  us.  On  the  hill  near  Chest- 
nut Street,  were  square,  red,  brick  tombs,  two  or  three 
feet  high,  with  a  slate  slab  on  the  top  of  each.  In  the 
wall  next  the  street,  the  backs  of  tombs  were  built  up 
high  and  narrow,  above  the  level  of  the  rest  of  the  wall. 
Rank  grass,  white-weed,  and  blackberry  vines,  overran 
the  ground,  and  everything  conspired  to  give  the  place 
that  neglected  look  that  characterized  country  cemeteries 
in  former  times. 

*  It  is  somewhat  remarkable,  how  the  experience  and  practice  of  the  fore- 
fathers, in  such  matters,  seems  to  have  descended  to  the  present  generation. 


WALNUT   STREET    CEMETERY.  221 

It  would  seem  as  if  the  spirit  of  Puritanism,  admirable 
as  it  was  in  many  respects,  deemed  it  a  virtue  to  invest 
death  with  all  the  external  horrors  that  could  be  gathered 
about  it.  No  wonder  that  superstition  was  rife.  The 
hearse,  a  shabby  old  vehicle,  after  being  kept  in  the 
Croft  barn  for  years,  was  removed  to  the  corner  shed  of 
the  row  back  of  the  old  stone  school-house,  where  the 
very  sight  of  its  black  doors  with  their  long  iron  hinges 
and  heavy  padlock,  struck  a  chill  to  the  hearts  of  chil- 
dren at  their  play. 

Within  the  cemetery,  many  of  the  old  graves  were 
sunken,  and  the  stones  leaning. 

The  ground  beyond  the  range  of  tombs  which  front 
northward,  a  narrow  strip  compared  with  what  is  now 
inclosed,  was  the  "  Potter's  field,"  or  burying  place  for 
the  slaves.  There  were  few  stones,  but  one  bore  the 
name  of  "  Dinah,"  an  old  slave  in  the  Heath  family,  and 
another  the  name  of  "  Ben  Boston,"  another  slave  of  a 
still  more  ancient  Heath. 

More  than  one  Revolutionary  hero  who  died  in  the 
Brookline  barracks  found  his  last  resting-place  in  Brook- 
line  Cemetery.  Lieutenant  Abell  of  Rehoboth  was  one  ; 
and  he  and  two  soldiers  of  a  Connecticut  company,  prob- 
ably the  same  that  was  quartered  in  Mr.  Benjamin 
Davis "s  house,  had  their  resting  places  marked  by  stones. 
The  two  latter  remain,  and  have  been  decorated,  on  re- 
cent Memorial  Days,  as  has  been  also  the  tomb  of  Cap- 
tain Isaac  Gardner  and  General  Gardner. 

It  will  be  remembered  by  those  familiar  with  the  early 
history  of  Massachusetts,  that  the  widow  of  Rev.  John 
Cotton,  the  first  minister  of  Boston,  and  mother  of  Sea- 
born Cotton,  born  on  the  voyage,  as  his  name  implies,  — 
afterwards  married  Richard  Mather.  After  his  death,— 
being  a  widow  for  the  third  time,  and  Thomas  and  Row- 


222  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

land  Cotton,  one,  if  not  both,  being  residents  in  Brook- 
line,  she  came  here,  took  the  small-pox,  of  which  she 
died,  and  was  buried  in  Brookline  Cemetery,  where  her 
gravestone  is  still  to  be  seen.* 

Here,  too,  lies  buried  the  first  wife  of  George  B.  Emer- 
son, a  sister  of  the  lamented  Joseph  S.  Buckminster,  and 
daughter  of  Dr.  Buckminster  of  Portsmouth.  She  was 
a  person  of  lovely  character  and  accomplishments,  worthy 
of  the  distinguished  family  to  which  she  belonged. 

Many  of  the  early  inhabitants  of  Brookline  were  no 
doubt  buried  in  the  old  Roxbury  cemetery  on  "  the 
Neck,"  as  they  worshipped  in  the  Eliot  Church,  and 
that  was  the  nearest  burying-place.  •  But  there  were 
graves  enough  to  fill  the  Brookline  cemetery  before  the 
present  century  began,  and  for  several  years  previous  to 
1840,  some  of  the  ground  had  been  used  for  the  same 
purpose,  over  and  over  again.  About  this  time,  Dr. 
Shurtleff,  Mr.  Philbrick,  and  others  who  were  interested 
in  public  improvements,  saw  the  necessity  of  enlarging 
the  area  of  the  ground,  a  matter  attended  with  almost 
as  much  difficulty  then  as  the  purchase  of  a  new  ceme- 
tery lot  recently.  But  after  some  negotiation  the  im- 
provement was  begun,  though  hotly  contested  by  many 
substantial  citizens. 

The  result  was,  that  sometime  during  the  year  1840, 
the  town  purchased  another  half  acre,  of  the  Clark  heirs. 
This  lay  chiefly  on  the  south  side. 

When  the  grading  of  the  ground  was  in  progress,  a 
skeleton  was  exhumed  on  the  Clark  land,  outside  the  old 
boundary  of  the  cemetery.  It  might  not  have  attracted 
any  special  attention,  but  for  the  fact  that  there  were 

*  Dr.  N.  B.  Shurtleff  in  his  History  of  Boston,  says  there  is  a  stone  erected 
to  the  memory  of  this  lady  in  the  King's  Chapel  Cemetery.  There  is  something 
probably  to  be  explained  with  reference  to  this  circumstance. 


ENLARGEMENT   OF   THE   CEMETERY.  223 

good  reasons  for  believing  the  bones  to  be  those  of  an 
Indian,  and  one  of  the  thigh  bones  had  been  broken,  but 
never  reset.  The  fractured  parts  had  over-lapped  and 
grown  together  in  that  way,  so  that  the  poor  victim  must 
have  found  his  mended  leg  inconveniently  short.  The 
bones  were  interlaced  with  roots  of  some  shrub  which 
drew  its  nourishment  from  them. 

If  the  cattle  browsed  upon  the  shrub,  and  men  ate  the 
cattle,  a  query  might  be  raised  as  to  who  owns  a  future 
interest  in  "  poor  Indian,"  nearly  as  interesting  as  the 
much  discussed  question,  "  Who  ate  Roger  Williams  ?  " 

During  the  progress  of  the  improvements,  many  old 
gravestones  were  dislodged  and  removed,  some  being 
thrown  in  to  fill  up  the  roadway  which  was  being  con- 
structed. A  stone,  bearing  the  name  of  one  of  the 
earliest  Winchesters,  —  among  the  first  settlers  of  the 
town,  —  was  carried  to  Lyceum  Hall  and  there  set  up, 
but  without  questioning  the  taste  or  the  motives  of  the 
individual  who  thus  distinguished  himself,  a  member  of 
the  Board  of  Selectmen  remanded  it  back  to  the  ceme- 
tery forthwith.* 

The  new  ground,  being  some  of  it  very  low,  was  raised, 
graded,  drained,  and  fenced.  The  gateway  was  removed 
to  its  present  location  and  the  carriage  road  through  the 
centre,  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  laid  out,  irrespective  of 
ancient  graves.  After  a  great  deal  of  effort  on  the  part 
of  Dr.  Shurtleff,  the  consent  of  the  owners  was  obtained, 
and  the  hideous  brick  tombs,  resembling  old  chimney- 
tops,  which  had  so  long  disfigured  the  highest  part  of  the 
hill,  were  leveled,  shade  trees  set  out,  and  the  place  di- 
vested of  much  of  its  former  repulsiveness. 

Within  its  limited  area,  lie  the  honored  dead  of  most 
of  the  old  families  of  the  place,  and  probably  few  live 

*  Deacon  Thomas  Griggs. 


224  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

here  who  have  not  at  some  time  shed  the  tears  of  sore 
bereavement  or  keenest  sympathy,  within  its  shaded  in- 
closure.  Here  the  patriot  dead  of  three  wars  have  been 
brought,  folded  under  the  flag  for  which  they  fought,  to 
slumber  in  the  soil  for  whose  freedom  they  died. 

Who  among  us  has  not  followed  thither  some  fair-haired 
and  beautiful  child,  out  of  whose  sunny  eyes  the  light  has 
been  quenched  forever  ?  Or  the  friend,  of  youth  or  mid- 
dle age,  with  whom  we  took  sweet  counsel,  and  whose 
vanished  presence  has  left  an  aching  void  which  no  other 
can  ever  fill  ?  And  through  that  narrow  gateway  we 
have  followed  the  slow-grinding  wheels,  which  were  bear- 
ing from  our  sight,  dear  aged  faces,  out  of  which  death 
had  smoothed  the  furrows  of  care  and  pain,  and  whose 
tired  hands,  life's  work  being  done,  were  folded,  forever 
at  rest. 

We  cannot  be  too  grateful  for  the  happy  faith  which 
will  not  allow  us  to  believe,  that  the  beloved  ones  we  have 
seen  laid  away,  are  slumbering  there  in  unconscious 
gloom ;  or  floating  as  formless  ether  in  some  vague  un- 
known, waiting  for  a  day  when,  perhaps  millions  of  years 
hence,  they  shall  receive  back  their  worn-out,  wasted 
bodies.  We  cannot  believe  that  those  bodies  which  are 
returned  to  their  original  elements,  and  re-incorporated 
in  a  thousand  forms  of  animal  and  vegetable  life,  will  be 
the  resources  to  which  the  Creator  must  turn,  that  the 
mortal  may  be  clothed  with  immortality.  We  think  the 
Scriptures  which  seem  to  warrant  this  belief,  will  admit 
of  quite  another  interpretation. 

Rather  do  we  believe  with  Paul,  that  "  there  is  a  natu- 
ral body  and  there  is  a  spiritual  body,"  not  "  there  will 
be,  but  there  «'*,"  and  in  that  spiritual  body  we  hope  to 
to  meet  our  lost  ones,  and  know  and  love  them  again. 


OLD   SCHOOL-HOUSES.  225 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE     OLD     BRICK      SCHOOL-HOUSE. MASTER     ADAMS. THE 

STONE    SCHOOL-HOUSE. THE     FIRST    CHURCH. REV.    MR. 

ALLEN. REV.  MR.  JACKSON. 

\  LTHOUGH  the  old  stone  school-house,  near  the 
J-^-  Unitarian  Church,  is  the  next  building  of  any  spe- 
cial interest  on  Walnut  Street,  there  are  reasons  which 
will  be  apparent  as  we  proceed,  why  the  history  of  the 
old  brick  school-house  should  stand  first  recorded.  From 
the  earliest  records,  and  still  earlier  traditions  of  the 
town,  it  appears  that  the  principal  school  was  always 
kept  until  quite  modern  times  at  the  centre  of  the  town. 
Not  that  this  location  of  church  and  school-house  was 
merely  the  geographical  centre,  for  it  was  also  the  centre 
of  population  until  after  1820. 

As  early  as  1686,  the  people  of  the  town,  preferring  to 
manage  their  own  school  affairs,  instead  of  having  them 
controlled  by  men  in  Boston,  petitioned  to  be  allowed  to 
direct  and  maintain  these  things  themselves.  In  Decem- 
ber of  that  year,  it  was  ordered  "  that  henceforth  the  said 
Hamlet  be  free  from  Town  rates  to  Boston,  they  raising 
a  school-house,  and  maintaining  an  able  reading  and  writ- 
ing master."  The  promptness  with  which  they  acted 
upon  the  matter,  shows  that  they  were  glad  to  get  any 
part  of  the  management  of  their  local  interests  into  their 
own  hands.  They  called  a  meeting  of  the  inhabitants, 
(it  is  recorded  as  a  full  meeting),  and  voted  twelve 


226  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

pounds  per  annum,  to  pay  the  school-master  and  that  if 
more  be  necessary  to  defray  expenses,  a  tax  "  be  laid 
equally  upon  the  scholars'  heads,  save  any  persons  that 
are  poor,  be  abated,  the  whole  or  in  part."  Signed, 
Thomas  Boylston. 

This  is  the  first  town  clerk's  record,  as  such,  made  in 
the  town,  though  the  separation  had  not  then  been  de- 
manded, from  Boston.  Many  of  the  old  inhabitants,  how- 
ever, were  as  anxious  to  get  out  of  Boston  then,  as  some 
of  the  modern  ones  are  to  get  in.  Dr.  Thomas  Boylston 
was  "  directed  to  buy  a  book,  and  enter  all  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  settlement  therein  from  time  to  time."  But 
he  died  before  the  vote  could  be  carried  into  effect,  and 
the  record  was  made  in  the  book  by  "  Josiah  Winchester, 
Clerk." 

This  first  school-house  built  by  the  people  of  the  town, 
unaided  by  Boston,  stood  on  the  hill,  on  the  triangular 
piece  of  ground  where  Warren  and  Walnut  Streets  di- 
verge, near  the  church.  It  was  probably  a  small  wooden 
school-house,  but  it  must  have  served  for  a  hundred  years 
or  more.  An  ancient  bill  presented  to  the  Selectmen  for 
repairs  on  this  building  is  a  curiosity.  It  reads  as  fol- 
lows :  — 

December  ye  6.  1758. 

to  work  don  at  the  Skul  hous 

to  shinggeling  the  ruf  and   finding  15    shingels,  and 
nales  and  Lime  to  pint  it,  1.1.0 

to  Laying   the   harth   and   finding   60ty   bricks   and 
wheling  12  whelborrers  of  Durt  to  Ras  it.  2.00 

Lathing  and  plastern  Severl  plases  0.1.0 

MOSES  SCOTT  4.00 

We  do  not  find  Mr.  Scott's  arithmetic  or  spelling  to 
indicate  that  he  ever  spent  much  time  in  the  "  Skul 
hous,"  except  in  the  exercise  of  his  calling  as  carpenter. 


THE   OLD   BRICK   SCHOOL-HOUSE.  227 

The  endorsement  of  the  Selectmen,  on  the  back  of  the 
bill,  orders  the  Town  Treasurer,  Jona  Winchester,  to  pay 
him  ten  shillings  and  eight  pence,  for  his  work.  Another 
old  bill,  presented  by  a  female  teacher,  who  probably 
taught  in  School  Street  affords  a  similar  anomaly. 

"  The  Town  of  Brookline  Depttor  to  Mary  Bowen  for  Keep- 
ing School  fore  months  from  the  seventh  of  June  1760,  at 
twenty  six  shillings  and  Eaight  pence  per  month."  5.  6.  8 

On  which  the  endorsement  reads  :  — 

"  Allowed  twenty  four  shillings  pr.  month  In  Consideration 
of  her  haveing  a  great  number  of  Schollers  &  there  being  but 
one  school  Kept." 

We  have  known  of  instances  where  an  increase  of  the 
number  of  scholars  did  not  secure  a  corresponding  in- 
crease of  salary,  but  hope  the  above  is  the  only  instance 
on  record  of  an  abatement  being  made  for  a  similar  rea- 
son. Probably,  however,  the  deficiency  was  made  up  by 
a  tax  on  the  pupils. 

The  next  school-house  of  which  we  hear,  on  this  spot, 
was  of  brick,  and  was  built  in  1793.  This  building  was 
the  Alma  Mater  of  many,  if  not  most  of  our  present 
middle  aged  and  elderly  towns-people.  It  was  a  square, 
hip-roofed  building,  fronting  eastward,  without  blinds, 
porch,  or  shed,  and  here  school  was  kept,  always  by  a 
male  teacher,  from  April  till  November.  Then  it  was 
closed,  and  the  winter  school  for  many  years  was  kept  by 
"  the  master,"  in  the  School  Street  school-house.  Another 
school  was  also  kept  during  the  same  time,  in  a  small 
wooden  school-house  on  Heath  Street  near  the  junction  of 
Warren  Street. 

There  were  various  teachers  employed,  but  one  among 
them  seems  to  have  made  his  mark  (in  more  senses  than 
one),  and  stamped  his  memory  indelibly  upon  his  pupils 


228  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BKOOKLINE. 

and  the  old  brick  school-house.  This  was  Master  Isaac 
Adams,  who  came  to  Brookline  about  the  year  1815  or 
1816.  Nothing  indicates  the  growth  of  a  people  in  intel- 
lect and  refinement  more  than  the  condition  of  their 
schools.  The  history  of  Master  Adams  and  his  methods, 
is  a  chapter  which  will  shed  much  light  on  the  progress 
of  Brookline  during  the  last  forty  years. 

Our  knowledge  of  him  has  been  gathered  from  verbal 
testimony,  from  both  male  and  female  residents  of  this 
town  who  were  his  former  pupils.  The  accounts  given 
are  wonderfully  uniform.  There  were  usually  from  thirty 
to  forty  pupils,  of  all  ages  from  four  to  sixteen  or  eighteen, 
and  of  both  sexes.  No  one  seems  to  retain  a  very  clear 
idea  of  the  studies  pursued  or  of  anything  interesting  in 
the  teaching.  Of  the  discipline,  however,  there  is  a  most 
vivid  recollection.  Whether  whipping  was  laid  down  in 
the  programme  as  a  part  of  the  master's  necessary  duty 
does  not  appear,  but  it  seems  to  have  been  in  accordance 
with  the  expectations  of  the  parents  and  children,  that  it 
should  form  a  part  of  every  day's  routine,  as  much  as  the 
lesson  from  "  Murray's  Grammar  "  or  the  spelling-book. 
School  was  opened  with  a  long,  extemporaneous  prayer, 
by  the  master.  During  this  prayer,  nothing  escaped  his 
vigilant  ears,  eyes,  and  nose,  and  the  slightest  sound  or 
trick  was  traced  at  once  to  the  right  source.  By  com- 
mon consent,  the  catechism  of  public  opinion  would  have 
made  answer  to  the  question,  "  What  is  the  chief  end  of 
boys?  "  "  To  be  whipped."  At  all  events  Master  Adams 
seems  to  have  acted  upon  the  theory  of  the  old  school- 
master of  whom  we  read,  that  "  a  boy  cannot  be  whipped 
amiss,  because  if  he  has  not  just  done  a  piece  of  mischief 
he  is  just  going  to"  Therefore,  after  prayers,  the  next 
proceeding  generally  was  to  punish  somebody  for  some- 
thing either  real  or  imaginary. 


MASTER  ISAAC  ADAMS.  229 

The  chief  weapon  used  was  called  a  "  clapper,"  and 
was  made  of  leather ;  a  circular  piece  about  three  quar- 
ters of  an  inch  thick  and  five  or  six  inches  in  diameter, 
attached  to  a  stout  leather  handle  some  two  feet  long. 
In  the  centre  of  the  circular  piece  was  a  round  hole. 
The  handle  was  slightly  flexible.  This  barbarous  instru- 
ment was  kept  at  the  master's  boarding-place,  and  the 
first  culprit  on  whom  it  was  to  be  used  in  the  morning 
was  sent  to  bring  it,  chewing  the  cud  of  bitter  reflection, 
or  foreboding,  by  the  way.  The  clapper  was  eminently 
adapted  for  spanking,  to  which  use  it  was  usually  applied. 
There  are  gentlemen  now  living  in  town  who  have 
smarted  under  the  infliction  scores  of  times  without  shed- 
ding a  tear,  and  others  more  sensitive  and  perhaps  less 
"  stuffy,"  who  roared  lustily  but  were  none  the  better 
able  to  escape  a  similar  fate  next  day.  For  minor  of- 
fenses, like  a  whisper  or  an  involuntary  giggle,  it  was 
common  for  the  master  to  send  out  for  a  branch  of  a  sap- 
ling (the  woods  were  near),  about  four  feet  long.  From 
this  he  would  trim  a  part  of  the  twigs  and  leaves,  split 
the  thick  end  of  it  far  enough  to  allow  the  poor  little  of- 
fender's nose  to  be  inserted  in  the  crack,  and  in  this  plight 
he  would  be  obliged  to  stand  as  a  spectacle  before  the 
school.  For  girls,  the  split  stick  was  often  applied  to  the 
ear.  Another  of  his  unique  inventions  was  the  "  unipod" 
perhaps  suggested  by  the  Latin  tripod,  —  a  stool  with 
only  one  leg  and  that  in  the  middle.  On  this  the  offen- 
der was  seated  where  she  must  balance  herself  with 
scrupulous  nicety,  straining  every  muscle  and  nerve  to 
maintain  the  perpendicular,  lest  gravitation  obtain  the 
mastery,  and  the  performer  come  to  grief  in  the  manner 
of  the  inexperienced  practitioner  on  the  modern  veloci- 
pede. There  were  two  of  these  unipods,  one  being  trian- 
gular, with  the  leg  at  one  corner. 


230  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

A  delicate  young  girl,  who  had  been  a  gentle  and  docile 
pupil  all  her  life,  began  to  show  peculiarities  of  manner 
and  disposition  while  at  this  school,  so  different  from  her 
former  appearance  and  habits,  as  to  attract  the  notice  of 
the  master,  who  to  take  the  "  oddity,"  or  perversity  as  he 
considered  it,  out  of  her,  frequently  kept  her  sitting  for 
hours  on  one  of  these  instruments  of  torture.  The  pecu- 
liarities however  were  only  the  indications  of  incipient  in- 
sanity, which  soon  was  broadly  developed,  and  of'  which 
she  died  at  the  age  of  twenty-one. 

But  the  elder  pupils  alone  were  not  the  only  victims  of 
this  man's  tyrannical  discipline.  The  front  row  of  desks 
had  a  long,  low  seat  in  front,  and  on  this  sat  a  row  of  little 
ones  from  four  to  six  years  of  age.  The  only  break  in 
the  monotony  of  their  long,  dull  session,  was  in  being 
called  up  once  in  the  forenoon,  and  once  in  the  afternoon, 
and  naming  the  letters  of  the  alphabet  through  from  A 
to  Z.  The  rest  of  the  time  they  were  expected  to  "  sit 
up  straight,  and  keep  still." 

Now  "  to  sit  up  straight  and  keep  still,"  is  what  no 
bright,  healthy  child  was  ever  yet  able  to  do,  for  even  one 
hour,  and  the  parent  or  teacher  who  requires  it,  is  either 
a  tyrant,  or  destitute  of  common  sense.  Rampant  animal 
life  will  squirm,  and  latent  fun  will  bubble  out  in  an  ill- 
suppressed  giggle.  If  it  does  not  come  to  hair  pulling 
and  fisticuffs,  then  the  children  are  little  short  of  angels, 
and  fit  to  —  "with  the  angels  stand."  But  the  poor  in- 
fant class  in  Master  Adams'  school  was  not  composed  of 
angels  ;  only  a  row  of  very  human  babies,  most  of  whom 
should  have  been  out  frolicking  on  the  grass  or  under  the 
trees  with  somebody  to  take  care  of  them  and  preserve 
the  peace.  It  happened  upon  an  evil  day  that  the  master 
seized  upon  one  of  these  little  victims  and  taking  him  out 
upon  the  platform  laid  him  face  downwards  upon  the 


"  DISCIPLINE."  231 

floor,  —  another  and  another  were  laid  beside  him,  then 
others  piled  upon  them,  till  he  had  made  a  pyramid  of 
them  with  the  last  and  perhaps  greatest  rogue  on  the 
top.  Then  seizing  the  clapper  he  proceeded  to  apply 
it  vigorously  to  the  topmost  child  of  the  heap,  while 
groans,  and  cries,  and  lamentations,  in  every  key,  proceeded 
from  the  struggling  pile.*  Does  any  reader  close  the 
book  in  disgust,  and  say,  "  Of  course  this  ended  the  man's 
career  in  Brookline  ?  "  Not  at  all  by  any  means.  The 
half  is  not  told,  —  nor  shall  we  tell  it.  It  would  not  be 
believed.  One  instance  more  of  his  dealings  with  the 
little  ones  must  suffice. 

A  little  boy,  between  four  and  five  years  old,  who 
walked  nearly  a  mile  to  the  school  in  the  care  of  his  two 
sisters  a  little  older,  coming  in  the  early  morning  and  stay- 
ing till  nearly  night,  was  guilty  of  the  gross  misdemea- 
nor of  falling  asleep  in  school  one  hot  summer  after- 
noon. The  sharp-eyed  master  perceived  it.  It  was  a 
case  for  discipline.  Such  a  palpable  violation  of  the  rules 
of  propriety  involved  a  severe  penalty.  Stepping  lightly 
to  the  little  sleeper,  with  his  handkerchief  he  tied  the 
little  feet  together  to  a  stout  umbrella,  which  he  gave 
to  a  large  school-mate  in  the  row  behind,  to  hold.  Then 
going  back  to  his  chair,  he  stamped  upon  the  floor,  and  in 
a  stentorian  tone,  called  out,  "  Daniel !  come  here  !  "  The 
poor  child  sprang  up,  and  of  course  fell  upon  his  face, 
crying  bitterly.  The  little  sister  cried  too,  and  was  de- 
rided and  disgraced  by  the  master,  before  the  school,  for 
her  weakness. 

If  any  one  thinks  this  is  too  much  to  believe,  let  him 
read  George  MacDonald's  book,  "  Alec  Forbes,"  and  in 

*  Had  there  been  less  elasticity  in  these  little  martyrs,  our  town  might 
have  been  minus  its  present  worthy  Treasurer,  as  well  as  sundry  other  good 
citizens. 


232  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKJJNK. 

the  Scotch  school-master,  Malison,  he  will  think  Master 
Adams  sat  for  his  portrait.  Such  discipline  and  such  a 
state  of  heart  and  mind  as  could  produce  it,  were  extreme 
instances  of  the  natural  outgrowth  of  the  New  England 
Calvinism  and  asceticism  of  the  two  preceding  cen- 
turies. 

Children  were  not  allowed  to  complain  at  home,  and 
often  if  it  was  found  that  they  had  been  punished  at  school, 
they  were  punished  at  home  also. 

The  present  public  opinion  which  will  scarcely  tolerate 
the  moderate  punishment  of  a  child  for  even  the  most  out- 
rageous conduct,  is  but  a  vibration  of  the  pendulum  to  the 
opposite  extreme,  and  is  as  weak  and  foolish  as  the  for- 
mer practices  were  cruel  and  unjust. 

After  teaching  here  for  seven  years,  Master  Adams 
left  town  and  taught  elsewhere  for  a  while,  but  was  hired 
back  again,  returned,  and  taught  here  more  than  thirteen 
years  longer.  There  was  another  side,  however,  to  his 
character,  and  the  old  master  was  not  wholly  a  bar- 
barian. 

Master  Adams  was  not,  as  might  be  supposed  from 
accounts  of  his  school  government,  a  man  of  no  principle. 
On  the  contrary,  he  was  a  religious  man,  who  made 
long  prayers ;  but  his  religion  savored  of  the  law  rather 
than  the  Gospel,  and  neither  his  principles  nor  his  feel- 
ings prevented  the  skillful  aiming  of  his  ruler  at  his 
pupils'  heads,  or  the  practice  of  any  of  the  methods  of 
punishment  already  recorded. 

Yet  all  this  severity  failed  of  producing  order,  or  com- 
manding the  respect  which  a  teacher  should  have  from 
his  pupils.  There  was  no  end  of  devices  for  circumvent- 
ing his  plans,  and  setting  at  naught  his  authority,  al- 
though he  was  feared  and  hated. 

Master   Adams   was  comparatively   young,   when   he 


MASTER  ISAAC   ADAMS.  233 

came  to  Brookline,  and  single.  He  continued  to  live 
single  till  past  middle  life,  when  he  married  a  young  lady 
of  Portsmouth,  Miss  Martha  Washington  Hill.  Miss 
Hill  was  a  very  lovely  girl,  with  a  voice  of  such  unusual 
melody,  that  all  who  heard  her  were  fascinated.  The 
old  schoolmaster's  devotion  to  his  young  wife  was  per- 
fectly wonderful,  but  we  have  not  heard  that  the  de- 
velopment of  his  affections  extended  to  the  school-room 
and  its  inmates. 

A  year  or  so  of  wedded  life  was  all  that  was  accorded 
to  the  singularly  mated  couple,  and  then  the  tie  was 
broken  by  death,  and  the  devoted  husband  became  the 
distracted  widower.  Mrs.  Adams  was  buried  in  Walnut 
Street  Cemetery,  and  night  after  night  the  half  frantic 
man  lay  moaning  upon  her  grave.  He  was  like  one  be- 
side himself.  He  planned  an  anagram  of  his  wife's  name, 
Martha  Washington,  and  actually  had  it  incorporated 
into  his  own  name  by  act  of  legislature,  on  this  wise : 
"•  Isaac  Mahtra  Wanshongtri  Adams." 

It  seems  marvelous  that  a  man  capable  of  such  a  pas- 
sionate and  devoted  attachment,  could  also  have  been 
capable  of  such  cruelties  as  he  practiced  in  his  school. 
After  a  while  he  gave  up  teaching  the  public  school,  and 
went  to  Jamaica  Plain,  where  he  taught  a  school  for 
young  ladies  for  some  little  time,  but  was  barely  toler- 
ated. From  thence  he  went  to  Newport,  R.  I.,  and  soon 
after  died.  At  his  own  request,  his  body  was  brought  to 
Brookline,  and  buried  beside  the  young  wife  whom  he 
had  so  long  mourned.  His  name  and  epitaph  are  to  be 
seen  by  any  of  his  former  pupils  who  may  desire  to  visit 
his  grave.  Under  the  name  and  the  dates  on  one  of 
the  stones  are  the  words,  — 

"  THIS    LIFE  'S    A    DREAM." 
16 


234  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

On  the  other,  — 

"  WE    PART    TO    MEET    AGAIN." 

"  Requiescat  in  pace"  Master  Adams  !  We  trust  thou 
hast  found  the  Great  Teacher  more  lenient  with  thee, 
than  thou  wert  to  his  little  ones. 

After  Master  Adams'  removal  from  Brookline,  or 
during  the  interval  in  which  he  was  absent,  the  winter 
school  was  taught  one  season,  if  not  more,  by  Rev. 
Thomas  Worcester,  then  a  young  man.  His  cousin, 
Oilman  Worcester,  was  for  several  winters  a  teacher  in 
Heath  Street  School.  His  brother  David  also  taught  in 
the  brick  school-house. 

A  greater  contrast  in  men  or  methods  could  scarcely 
be  found  than  that  between  Master  Adams  and  the  Wor- 
cesters.  Gentle  firmness,  and  a  sympathetic  regard  for 
childhood  and  youth,  were  the  characteristics  of  their 
teaching. 

The  brick  school-house  was  not  an  important  building 
in  town  merely  for  its  service  in  school  uses,  but  it  was 
also  used  for  town  meetings,  from  the  time  it  was  built, 
as  long  as  it  remained  standing.  It  was  at  the  brick 
school-house  that  the  people  of  the  town  met  to  form  a 
procession,  on  the  occasion  of  the  funeral  services  in 
honor  of  George  Washington.  From  thence  they  inarched 
to  the  church,  then  standing  in  what  is  now  the  garden 
of  the  parsonage,  and  listened  to  the  eulogy  delivered  by 
Dr.  Pierce. 

After  the  close  of  the  second  war  with  England,  the 
town  began  to  grow  more  rapidly.  Several  gentlemen 
came  here  and  built  fine  houses,  and  there  was  a  general 
increase  of  prosperity.  The  subject  of  building  a  town- 
house  began  to  be  discussed,  but  met  with  considerable 
opposition  from  old  citizens,  who  thought  the  school- 
house  had  been  good  enough  for  them  and  their  fathers, 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   OLD   STONE   SCHOOL-HOUSE.  235 

and  ought  to  suffice  for  the  coming  generation.  How- 
ever, the  more  enterprising  carried  their  point  at  last,  so 
far  as  to  get  a  vote  to  build  a  town-house.  The  next 
thing  to  be  considered  was  the  place  and  the  material. 
The  brothers,  John  and  Lewis  Tappan,  and  Mr.  Joseph 
Sewall,  had  built  stone  houses,  and  it  was  proposed  to 
build  a  stone  town-house.  This  was  opposed,  of  course, 
as  unnecessary  extravagance,  by  the  men  who  thought 
the  old  school-house  was  good  enough.  But  once  more 
enterprise  triumphed,  and  the  building  was  decided  upon, 
as  well  as  the  location.  This  was  the  origin  of  the  build- 
ing known  as  the  old  stone  school-house,  still  standing 
next  the  Unitarian  Church. 

The  contract  for  building  it  was  let  out  to  mechanics 
from  Roxbury  ;  but  the  work  is  said  to  have  been  badly 
done.  The  building  was  completed  in  1824,  and  dedi- 
cated with  appropriate  ceremonies,  on  the  first  day  of 
January,  1825. 

The  lower  room  was  fitted  for  a  school-room,  and  the 
old  brick  school-house  was  taken  down  the  same  year. 
On  the  spot  where  the  building  stood,  at  the  site  of  the 
door,  an  elm  tree  was  planted  by  Mr.  Ebenezer  Heath, 
and  it  still  marks  the  spot.  The  old  plan  of  keeping 
the  school  a  part  of  the  year  in  that  neighborhood,  and 
changing  to  School  Street  in  winter,  continued  for  a 
while  longer,  but  the  increase  of  population  soon  made 
it  necessary  to  have  a  school  the  year  round  in  that  part 
of  the  town. 

For  several  years  the  town  hall,  on  the  second  floor 
of  the  building,  was  a  popular  place  for  singing  schools, 
political  meetings,  and  Lyceum  lectures.  About  the  year 
1832,  Mr.  Isaac  Thayer,  who  had  rushed  like  a  comet 
into  the  quiet  atmosphere  of  Brookline,  and  left  his  trail 
along  the  horizon  for  some  time  after  his  departure, 


236  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

started  the  idea  of  a  series  of  Lyceum  lectures.  A  com- 
pany was  organized  as  the  Brookline  Lyceum  Society, 
and  for  several  winters  the  hall  was  filled  with  the  Slite 
of  the  town  on  these  occasions. 

On  alternate  weeks  a  debate  was  held  instead  of  a 
lecture.  A  course  of  lectures  on  Phrenology,  the  first 
season,  created  much  discussion  and  awakened  great 
interest.  An  impulse  was  given  to  intellectual  growth 
by  the  Lyceum  lectures,  which  was  felt  throughout  the 
town.  Quiet  farmers  who  scarcely  read  anything  before 
but  the  Bible  and  the  Almanac,  were  roused  into  new 
mental  life.  A  premium  of  ten  dollars  was  offered  by 
the  Lyceum  Society  to  the  person  who  should  remember 
and  be  able  to  repeat  the  most  of  any  lecture  heard. 
A  daughter  of  Deacon  Joshua  C.  Clark  was  the  success- 
ful competitor. 

The  first  public  High  School  in  Brookline  was  opened 
in  this  building  in  May,  1843,  under  Mr.  Benjamin  H. 
Rhoades,  a  graduate  of  Brown  University,  now  librarian 
of  Redwood  Library,  Newport,  R.  I. 

His  assistant  teacher,  James  Pierce,  a  young  man  of 
great  promise  and  much  beloved,  though  a  native  of  Dor- 
chester, was  related  to  Brookline  families,  and  well  iden- 
tified with  its  interests.  He  was  preparing  to  enter  the 
Unitarian  ministry,  when  his  health  failed,  and  a  trip  to 
Europe  was  advised.  On  the  return  voyage  he  died, 
and  was  buried  in  the  sea.  Many  hearts  sincerely 
mourned  his  loss,  and  still  tenderly  cherish  his  memory. 

Mr.  Rhoades  was  succeeded  by  Hezekiah  Shailer,  a 
brother  of  Rev.  W.  H.  Shailer,  who  was  then  minister 
of  the  Baptist  Church  in  this  town.  He  was  called  a 
good  disciplinarian,  as  those  who  experienced  the  shak- 
ings which  he  gave  in  a  quiet  way,  after  school,  were 
usually  reduced  to  submission,  as  effectually  as  if  they 


THE   FIRST   CHURCH.  237 

had  been  experimented  upon  with  the  "  clapper  "  of  his 
ancient  predecessor. 

Mr.  Shailer  was  succeeded  by  Professor  William  P. 
Atkinson,  now  of  Cambridge,  who  taught  for  a  year  or 
two.  Two  others  succeeded  Professor  Atkinson  for  a 
short  time  each ;  and  then  Mr.  Hoar,  the  present  teacher 
of  the  High  School,  received  the  appointment  in  April, 
1854,  which  he  has  ever  since  kept. 

After  the  school  was  removed  to  its  present  location, 
the  old  stone  building  continued  in  use  for  primary 
schools,  until  sold  by  the  town  a  few  years  since,  when 
it  became  private  property. 

THE   FIRST    CHURCH. 

The  act  of  the  Assembly  and  Council,  by  which  Brook- 
line  was  incorporated  as  a  separate  town  in  1705,  con- 
tained a  clause  which  enjoined  the  building  of  a  meeting- 
house and  the  settling  of  "  an  able  Orthodox  minister  " 
within  three  years. 

But  the  inhabitants  were  too  few  and  their  means  too 
limited,  to  enable  them  to  comply  with  the  injunction, 
and  for  nine  years  longer  they  continued  to  worship  at 
Roxbury.  On  the  2d  of  March,  1718,  it  was 

Voted,  "  that  three  men  be  chosen  and  appointed  to  survey 
the  limits  of  this  town,  and  to  find  the  centre  or  middle  thereof, 
and  to  enquire  where  a  convenient  place  may  be  procured  where- 
on to  build  a  meeting-house  as  near  the  centre  of  said  town  as 
may  be." 

Voted,  "  that  Samuel  Aspinwall,  John  Druce,  and  Peter 
Boylston,  be  appointed  a  committee  to  manage  the  affair  relat- 
ing to  the  meeting-house  aforesaid." 

There  were  several  places  proposed,  and  a  Committee 
of  the  General  Court  was  called  to  visit  the  places. 


238  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  record  of  the  next  Town  Meeting  contains  the  fol- 
lowing :  — 

December  2,  1713.  At  this  meeting  Mr.  Caleb  Gardner,  Jr., 
did  offer  and  bequeath,  ratify  and  confirm  unto  the  town  of 
Brookline  a  piece  of  land  nigh  to  his  Dwelling  House,  lying 
westward  therefrom  on  the  left-hand  of  the  roadway  leading  to 
Roxbury,  whereon  to  build  a  Meeting  House  for  the  Public 
"Worship  of  God." 

Voted,  "  that  Lieut.  Thomas  Gardner,  Lieut.  Samuel  As- 
pinwall,  Mr.  Joseph  White,  Mr.  Thomas  Steadman  and  John 
Seaver,  be  a  committee  to  treat  with  Mr.  Caleb  Gardner, 
above  said,  about  the  bounds  of  said  piece  of  land,  and  to  desire 
of  him  a  legal  conveyance  and  confirmation  thereof  to  said 
town." 

Voted,  "  that  the  Meeting  House  aforesaid  should  be  of  the 
same  dimensions  with  the  Meeting  House  in  the  southwest  part 
of  Roxbury." 

Voted,  "  that  Lieut.  Thomas  Gardner,  Lieut.  Samuel  Aspin- 
wall,  Mr.  Erosamond  Drew,  Mr.  Thomas  Steadman  and  Mr. 
John  Seaver,  be  a  committee  to  manage  the  concern,  or  affair 
of  building  the  above  said  Meeting  House." 

The  Committee  of  the  General  Court  decided  upon  the 
site  above  mentioned,  and  there  seems  to  have  been  no 
further  opposition. 

Mr.  Caleb  Gardner  lived  in  a  house  directly  opposite 
what  is  now  the  Cemetery,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  Cemetery  had  not  then  been  bought  or  its  loca- 
tion decided  upon.  Mr.  John  Hammond's  old  house  was 
standing  just  about  where  the  entrance  to  Mr.  Kennard's 
place  now  is,  and  Mr.  Gardner's  between  that  and  the 
present  parsonage. 

From  Mr.  Gardner's,  to  the  house  now  occupied  by  Mr. 
Chapin,  there  was  no  building  except  the  old  school-house 
in  "  the  fork  of  the  roads." 


THE   FIRST   MEETING-HOUSE.  239 

All  was  woods  on  both  sides  of  the  way,  and  neither 
Cypress  Street  nor  Boylston  Street  were  thought  of. 
The  exact  spot  given  by  Mr.  Gardner  was  that  now  cov- 
ered by  the  stable  west  of  the  parsonage,  and  a  small 
piece  of  the  garden  of  the  latter  place.  Mr.  Samuel 
Clark,  as  has  been  previously  stated,  was  the  builder. 
The  frame  was  raised  November  10,  1714.  The  young 
carpenter  and  another  youth,  Mr.  Isaac  Gardner,  when 
the  frame  was  raised,  played  at  leap-frog  on  the  ridgepole. 
They  lived  to  be,  the  one  eighty-one  years  of  age,  and 
the  other  eighty-three,  and  each  came  to  the  same  place 
of  worship  in  his  old  age  supported  by  two  canes  or 
crutches.  The  meeting-house  was  forty-four  feet  long 
and  thirty-five  feet  wide.  It  originally  contained  but 
fourteen  pews,  and  several  long  benches.  There  was  a 
gallery  round  three  sides,  and  probably  long  benches 
therein  for  the  children,  who  in  those  days  never  sat  with 
their  parents.  Afterward  fourteen  more  pews  were 
added  on  the  floor  and  four  in  the  gallery.  There  was 
no  steeple  to  this  house  till  the  town  voted  in  September, 
1771,  to  build  one,  and  accepted  thankfully  the  bell  which 
was  presented  by  Nicholas  Boylston,  Esq.  The  pulpit 
was  of  oak,  and  upon  it  was  kept  an  hour-glass  for  meas- 
uring the  time.  A  clock  was  a  luxury  not  yet  aspired  to 
by  the  fathers  of  the  town. 

The  building  stood  Avith  the  side  to  the  road,  entrances 
at  each  end,  and  a  door  in  the  centre  of  the  front.  The 
steeple  was  at  the  west  end.  The  bell  presented  by  Mr. 
Boylston  was  a  very  fine  toned  one,  but  was  cracked  in 
1803,  much  to  the  regret  of  the  people.  The  pulpit  was 
overhung  by  an  immense  sounding-board,  -wliich  threat- 
ened the  minister  like  a  large  extinguisher. 

The  people  were  arranged  by  a  person  appointed  in 
Town  Meeting  for  that  purpose,  according  to  dignity,  age, 
standing,  etc. 


240  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  church  was  gathered  the  26th  of  October,  1717,  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Thayer,  of  the  Second  Church  in  Roxbury. 
There  were  seventeen  male  members,  and  twenty-two 
females. 

The  arrangement  of  the  people,  after  the  pews  were 
sold  April  29,  1718,  was  on  this  wise :  — 

Samuel  Sewall,  next  the  pulpit,  west. 
John  Winchester,  Sen.,  next  west. 
Capt.  Sam.  Aspinwall,  Northwest  corner. 
Lieut.  Thomas  Gardner,  between  west  door  and  men's  gallery 
stairs. 

John  Seaver,  between  west  door  and  men's  gallery  stairs. 

John  Druce,  left  of  men's  gallery  stairs. 

Joseph  Gardner,  left  of  front  door. 

Josiah  Winchester,  Sen.,  right  of  front  door. 

Thomas  Stedman,  right  of  women's  gallery  stairs. 

William  Sharp,  left  of  east  door. 

Ensign  Benj.  White,  right  of  east  door. 

Peter  Boylston,  Northeast  corner. 

Ministerial  Pew,  right  of  pulpit  stairs. 

One  of  the  above  mentioned  Benjamin  Whites,  and 
Lieutenant  Thomas  Gardner,  were  the  first  deacons,  and 
were  chosen  in  1718. 

Deacon  White  lived  in  a  house  which  stood  on  the  site 
of  the  present  residence  of  Colonel  Lyman.  This  house 
was  purchased  by  Hon.  Jonathan  Mason,  who  had  it  torn 
down  in  1809.  Between  the  floors  of  this  house  was  found 
a  carefully  folded  paper,  which  contained  an  account  of 
the  manner  in  which  the  congregation  was  seated  March 
9,  1719.  "  Whole  number  of  individuals  seated,  66,  of 
whom  28  couples  were  men  and  wives." 

In  the  men's  foreseat,  in  the  body  seats,  are  seated  Jo- 
siah Winchester,  Captain  Aspinwall,  Joseph  Gardner,  and 
Edward  Devotion. 


SEATING   OF   THE   CONGREGATION.  241 

In  the  second  seat,  are  seated  William  Story,  Joseph 
Goddard,  Thomas  Woodward,  Daniel  Harris,  and  John 
Ackers. 

In  the  third  seat,  are  seated  James  Griggs,  Samuel 
Newell,  Abraham  Chamberlain,  Ebenezer  Kendrick,  and 
Robert  Harris. 

In  the  fourth  seat,  are  seated  Thomas  Lee,  William 
Davis,  and  Joseph  Scott. 

In  the  front  foreseat  in  the  gallery,  are  seated  Caleb 
Gardner,  Josiah  Winchester,  Samuel  White,  Henry  Win- 
chester, Joseph  Adams,  Robert  Sharp,  Thomas  Cotton, 
and  Samuel  Clark,  Jun. 

In  the  foreseat  in  the  side  gallery,  are  seated  Joshua 
Stedman,  William  Gleason,  Dudley  Boylston,  Addington 
Gardner,  John  Taylor,  Stephen  Winchester,  and  Philip 
Torrey. 

In  the  second  seat  in  the  front,  are  seated  Isaac  Glea- 
son, John  Wedge,  Thomas  Woodward,  Jun.,  and  James 
Goddard. 

In  the  women's  foreseat,  in  the  body  seats,  are  seated 
the  wife  of  Josiah  Winchester,  Sen.,  the  widow  Ackers, 
the  wife  of  Joseph  Gardner,  and  the  wife  of  Edward  De- 
votion. 

In  the  second  seat,  are  seated  the  wife  of  William 
Story,  the  wife  of  Joseph  Goddard,  the  wife  of  Thomas 
Woodward,  the  wife  of  Daniel  Harris,  the  wife  of  John 
Ackers,  and  the  widow  Hannah  Stedman. 

In  the  third  seat,  the  wife  of  James  Griggs,  the  wife 
of  Samuel  Newell,  the  wife  of  Abraham  Chamberlain,  the 
wife  of  Ebenezer  Kenrick,  and  the  wife  of  Robert  Harris. 

In  the  fourth  seat,  the  wife  of  Thomas  Lee,  the  wife  of 
William  Davis,  and  the  wife  of  Joseph  Scott. 

In  the  front  foreseat  in  the  gallery,  the  wife  of  Samuel 
White,  the  wife  of  Henry  Winchester,  the  wife  of  Joseph 


242  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

Adams,  the  wife  of  Robert  Sharp,  and  the  wife  of  Sam- 
uel Clark,  Jun. 

In  the  foreseat  in  the  side  gallery,  the  wife  of  Joshua 
Stedman,  the  wife  of  William  Gleason,  the  wife  of  Dud- 
ley Boylston,  the  wife  of  Addington  Gardner,  the  wife  of 
John  Taylor. 

In  the  second  seat  in  the  front,  the  wife  of  John  Wedge 
and  the  wife  of  James  Goddard. 

A  fast  day  was  appointed  on  the  third  of  July,  1718, 
"  to  seek  Divine  direction  in  the  ordination  of  a  minis- 
ter." 

On  the  5th  of  November  the  same  year,  the  Rev.  James 
Allen  of  Roxbury  was  ordained  first  minister  of  the 
church. 

Mr.  Allen  lived,  as  we  have  before  mentioned,  in  a 
house  on  the  south  side  of  Walnut  Street,  opposite  the 
head  of  Cypress  Street. 

Mr.  Allen  preached  here  more  than  twenty-eight  years. 
He  died  in  February,  1747,  aged  fifty-six  years.  His  death 
Was  caused  by  a  lingering  consumption.  He  was  buried 
in  Brookline  Cemetery.  During  his  ministry  one  hundred 
and  fifteen  were  added  to  the  church,  "  besides  forty-four 
who  owned  the  Covenant  without  coming  to  the  Lord's 
table."  The  baptisms  were  two  hundred  and  sixty-one. 
Mr.  Allen  was  called  "  a  pious  and  judicious  divine." 
There  are  seven  sermons  of  his  now  extant  which  were 
published  during  his  lifetime,  which  have  been  said  to 
"  do  equal  honor  to  his  head  and  heart." 

The  period  of  Mr.  Allen's  ministry,  however,  was  not 
without  its  troubles.  During  the  time  of  powerful  relig- 
ious excitement  produced  by  the  preaching  of  Rev.  George 
Whitefield,  the  Brookline  church  was  much  affected  by 
it ;  and  Mr.  Allen  described  this  work  in  a  letter  to  Rev. 
Wm.  Cooper  in  glowing  terms,  saying,  that  "  scores  of 
persons  have  been  under  awakenings." 


SECEDERS.  243 

It  seems,  however,  that  during  six  years  from  1738  to 
1744,  there  were  but  twenty-two  added  to  the  church. 
The  effect  of  the  excitement,  however,  like  similar  relig- 
ious fervors  in  our  own  times,  was  to  produce  a  reaction, 
and  in  less  than  a  year  from  the  time  Mr.  Allen  wrote  his 
enthusiastic  letter  to  Mr.  Cooper  and  the  Convention  of 
orthodox  ministers,  he  condemned  the  whole  thing  as  a 
delusion. 

The  effect  of  this  revulsion  of  feeling  on  his  part  was 
to  cause  six  of  the  leading  members  of  his  church  to  secede 
with  their  families.  They  wrote  him  a  caustic  letter  in 
which  they  say,  "•  Now  we  desire  with  humility  and  meek- 
ness to  give  you  the  reasons  of  our  withdrawal  from  you 
and  your  church." 

We  copy  from  this  paper  a  few  of  the  reasons  given  by 
the  seceders  for  their  course. 

"  I.  The  first  reason  we  shall  mention,  is  Mr.  Allen's  speaking 
against  that,  which  we  think  to  be  the  glorious  work  of  God,  but 
he  calls  it  a  delusion. 

'*  II.  His  speaking  against  those  ministers,  which  we  believe 
the  Lord  has  sent  out  to  invite  sinners  to  Christ.  Mr.  Allen 
warns  people  not  to  go  to  hear  them,  and  said  they  who  go  to 
hear  them  go  upon  the  Devil's  ground. 

"  III.  We  cannot  join  with  Mr.  Allen  in  letting  in  those  to 
preach  who  we  fear  are  strangers  to  the  life  and  power  of  God 
in  their  souls ;  because  they  preach  only  the  form,  as  we  think. 
One  of  which  coming  into  Mr.  Allen's  house  one  time,  he  said 
he  had  as  lief  see  the  Devil." 

There  were  other  similar  reasons  given,  and  the  paper 
was  signed  by  Ebenezer  Kendrick,  Nath'l  Shepard,  John 
Seaver,  Jr.,  Elhanan  Winchester,  Jr.,  Richard  Seaver, 
Dudley  Boylston,  Jr. 

This  secession,  from  this  and  other  churches,  was  the 


244  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

origin  of  the  "  New  Lights."  They  began  to  hold  meet- 
ings in  Mr.  Shepard's  house,  which  was  where  the  Pub- 
lic Library  now  stands,  and  was  afterwards  known  as  the 
Dana  house. 

Those  who  lived  in  the  upper  part  of  the  town  held 
meetings  at  Mr.  Winchester's,  afterward  "  the  Richards 
Tavern."  The  sect  finally  broke  up,  and  distributed  its 
members  among  Baptists  and  Shakers.  We  shall  give 
a  further  account  of  Elhanan  Winchester  at  some  future 
time. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Allen  remained  firm  in  the  Orthodox 
faith  till  his  death,  notwithstanding  his  disapproval  of 
itinerant  revivalists  and  the  measures  they  employed. 
But  the  effect  of  the  division  and  unkind  feeling  among 
his  people  was  to  render  Mr.  Allen  very  unhappy,  and  is 
said  to  have  been  the  cause  of  the  consumption  which 
ended  his  life. 

After  Mr.  Allen's  decease  the  Society  gave  a  call  to  the 
Rev.  Cotton  Brown,  son  of  a  minister  of  Haverhill ;  he 
was  ordained  October  26,  1748.  Those  who  read  the 
account  of  the  Walley  house  will  remember  that  he  was 
there  mentioned  as  having  been  engaged  to  Mr.  Allen's 
daughter,  and  that  the  Walley  house  (so  called)  was 
built  for  him  to  live  in.  The  young  lady,  however,  died 
in  1750,  and  Mr.  Brown  died  in  1751,  aged  twenty-five 
years,  having  been  pastor  of  the  church  not  quite  two 
years  and  a  half. 

The  eminent  Dr.  Cooper  of  Brattle  Street  Church,  spoke 
thus  of  his  character  at  the  time  of  his  decease  :  — 

"  He  was  a  gentleman  who,  by  the  happiness  of  his  genius, 
his  application  to  study,  and  taste  for  polite  literature,  his  piety 
and  prudence,  his  sweetness  of  temper,  and  softness  of  manners, 
had  raised  in  his  friends  the  fairest  hopes,  and  gave  them  just 
reason  to  expect  in  him  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  society 
and  a  peculiar  blessing  to  the  church." 


EXPENSES   OF   ORDINATION.  245 

Mr.  Brown  was  buried  in  Brookline  Cemetery. 

The  next  clergyman  who  accepted  a  call  to  the  Brook- 
line  Church  was  Mr.  Nathaniel  Potter,  of  Elizabeth,  New 
Jersey,  who  was  ordained  pastor  of  the  church  November 
19,  1755.  He  remained  in  this  connection  three  years 
and  a  half.  He  had  been  hastily  called,  from  a  distant 
city,  without  credentials,  and  was  as  hastily  settled.  Of 
him  Dr.  Pierce  remarked  in  an  anniversary  sermon,  that 
"  though  professedly  orthodox  in  faith,  he  was  destined, 
during  a  short  ministry,  to  give  woeful  emphasis  to  the 
apostle's  monition,  '  Lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man.'  ' 

A  bill  presented  to  the  town  by  Deacon  Elisha  Gard- 
ner for  the  expenses  of  this  man's  ordination,  possesses  a 
curious  interest  when  viewed  with  modern  eyes. 

to  monriey  Pad  at  The  ordanation.  old  tenor  £  G.  0  0  0 

to  Rum    "  £  1.   1   4.0 

to  Shugar  £  1.  1  0.  G 
to  spice 

to  turces  (turkeys  ?)  3  0.  0.  0. 

to  fouls  1.  1.0  0 

to  pork  3046 

to  crambres  0080 

to  puding  pans  0150 


£18.0  2  G 

Of  this  charge  the  Selectmen  ordered  the  paying  of 
<£.  2.  s.  8.  d.  4.  and  probably  the  Society  paid  the  rest. 
Ordinations  in  those  days  evidently  involved  the  consid- 
eration of  material  as  well  as  spiritual  wants,  for  the 
time  being. 

REV.   JOSEPH  JACKSON. 

After  the  removal  of  Mr.  Potter,  the  church  extended 
a  call  to  the  Rev.  Joseph  Jackson,  at  that  time  a  tutor  at 
Cambridge.  He  had  occasionally  preached  for  the  Brook- 
line  society,  and  was  much  liked  by  his  hearers. 


246  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

Mr.  Jackson  accepted  the  invitation,  and  was  ordained 
fourth  minister  of  the  church,  April  9,  1760.  The 
only  relic  or  memorial  of  his  ordination  which  we  have 
been  able  to  trace  out  is  the  bill  for  the  expenses  of  the 
dinner.  It  is  somewhat  similar  to  that  of  his  predeces- 
sor. 

"  Brookline,  1760.  Elisha  Gardner's  accompt  to  providing 
at  the  Ordination  of  mr  Joseph  Jackson  old  tenor 

to  cash  for  Sundries  at  the  ordination  £14.  00.  0 

to  cash  for  crambres  and  Ross  water  2.  00.  0 

to  cash  for  butter  and  Eggs  and  Pickels  2.  15.  0 

to  cash  for  to  pay  the  Cakes  6.  00.  0 


£24.  15.  6 
Errors  Excepted. 
Allowed  by  the  Selectmen." 

The  rum  being  omitted,  perhaps  the  rosewater  served 
instead. 

Evidently  some  repairs  were  made  on  the  church- 
building  and  things  put  in  order  generally,  for  the  com- 
ing of  the  new  minister,  as  we  find  the  following  bill, 
dated  two  days  after  the  ordination :  — 

"  April  the  11  Day  1760. 

for  work  Brookline  Meeting  house  on  the  Pulpit  Laying  a 
floore  in  the  Same  and  Raising  the  Same  and  Paint  and  Paint- 
ing, for  weather  Boairds  and  Doore.  £2.-2.-8 
caseings  for  one  End  of  the  Meetting  hous  0-5-4 
for  a  Lock  for  the  Doore  and  a  Paire  of  .  9-4 
hinges  .  5-9 
for  three  Bolts  and  three  Quarters  of  a  hundred  of 
Board  nails.  4-8 
for  the  Doors  and  Step.  Except  Arrows.  1.-10-0 


£.4-17-9 
EBENEZER  THWING. 


MR.   JACKSON  —  AN   INCIDENT.  247 

A  year  later  was  the  following  :  — 

BROOKLINE  March  19,  1861. 

The  Select  men  of  Brookline  in  Behalf  of  ye  town  to  Joshua 
Davis  Dr.  Decem  16th. 

To  a  Shutter  for  the  Meting-house  &  a  Draw  for  ye   Bible 

Puting  up  ye  same  £0.  5-4. 

Tp  a  bench  for  the  School  and  mending  seats  5-4 


10-8 
Errors  Excepted. 

JOSHUA  DAVIS. 

Mr.  Jackson  married  Hannah,  daughter  of  John  A  very, 
Esq.,  of  Boston.  He  occupied  the  house  which  his  pre- 
decessors had  occupied,  during  nearly  twenty  years  of 
his  ministry.  During  his  absence  one  day  the  house  took 
fire,  and  though  not  wholly  destroyed,  was  badly  dam- 
aged. 

Dr.  Aspinwall,  who  was  passing,  rendered  efficient  ser- 
vice in  saving  Mr.  Jackson's  library.  In  May,  1781,  the 
ground  occupied  for  now  nearly  a  century  for  a  parson- 
age lot,  was  given  for  that  purpose  by  Mrs.  Walcott,  a 
daughter  of  Judge  Sewall,  and  a  house  was  built  the  fol- 
lowing year,  into  which  Mr.  Jackson  removed,  and  there 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days. 

Mr.  Jackson  was  admired  by  many  as  a  preacher  ;  he 
seems  to  have  been  greatly  respected  and  beloved  by  his 
people ;  but  there  was  an  awe  amounting  almost  to  fear 
on  the  part  of  the  children  and  young  people  of  the 
parish.  Perhaps  the  austere  manners,  the  style  of  dress, 
and  the  powdered  wig  worn  by  the  clergy  of  those  days, 
may  have  had  something  to  do  with  this  feeling. 

An  incident  is  related  of  the  boys  of  those  days,  which 
illustrates  this  point.  In  the  old  meeting-house  the  chil- 
dren occupied  the  gallery.  A  broad  balustrade  ran  along 


248  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

the  front  of  this,  and  one  Sunday  a  stray  dog  having 
found  his  way  into  the  gallery,  mounted  this  balustrade 
and  took  a  survey  of  the  congregation.  Either  with  or 
without  the  help  of  the  boys,  the  dog  by  a  sudden  lurch 
was  precipitated  into  the  pew  of  Mr.  Winchester,  below, 
with  such  violence  as  to  split  the  seat.  What  the  conse- 
quence was  to  the  dog  is  not  reported.  But  the  boys,  in 
spite  of  minister  and  tything  man,  were  convulsed  with 
laughter  which  they  could  not  repress. 

The  next  day,  when  they  were  having  their  recess  at 
the  brick  school-house,  the  dignified  clergyman  was  seen 
walking  up  the  hill.  When  he  reached  the  school-house 
not  a  boy  was  to  be  found  far  or  near.  Over  walls,  be- 
hind fences,  into  the  woods,  anywhere  out  of  sight  of  the 
minister,  they  scattered  like  frightened  partridges,  and 
kept  still  till  he  had  gone,  invisible  as  Roderick  Dhu's 
men  till  the  whistle  was  blown. 

When  he  called  on  his  parishioners,  the  children  often 
hid  themselves  till  his  visit  was  over.  Not  that  he  was 
unkind,  or  intentionally  repellant  to  the  little  ones,  but 
the  office  of  minister  was  held  in  greater  sanctity  then 
than  now,  and  the  children  were  taught  to  fear  him. 
Many  a  child  used  to  hide  behind  the  wall  when  about 
to  meet  him  on  the  street,  rather  than  make  the  bow  or 
courtesy  which  the  custom  of  the  times  demanded. 

In  1790,  Mr.  Jackson  lost  his  only  son,  an  affliction 
from  which  he  never  fully  recovered. 

Like  Mr.  Allen,  he  too  had  some  parish  troubles,  prin- 
cipally arising  from  the  preaching  of  the  u  New  Lights." 
Mr.  Elhanan  Winchester,  previously  alluded  to,  had  a 
son  of  the  same  name,  who  was  nine  years  of  age  when 
Mr.  Jackson  came  to  Brookline.  This  young  man  be- 
came a  Baptist,  and  afterwards  a  Universalist,  preach- 
ing the  final  restoration  of  all  men,  a  doctrine  which 


REV.   JOSEPH  JACKSON.  249 

gave  Mr.  Jackson  much  trouble.  Mr.  Jackson's  health 
began  to  fail  after  the  death  of  his  son,  but  it  was  his 
constant  prayer  that  his  life  and  his  usefulness  might 
terminate  together.  His  prayer  was  answered,  for  he 
continued  to  preach  till  the  last  Sabbath  of  his  life,  and 
even  made  arrangements  for  the  supply  of  his  pulpit  for 
the  following  Sunday.  He  died  on  the  22d  of  July, 
1796,  aged  sixty -two  years,  having  been  pastor  of  the 
Brookline  Church  thirty-six  years. 

Such  was  his  extreme  modesty  and  diffidence  that  he 
never  would  allow  a  sermon  of  his  to  be  published,  and 
he  ordered  that  all  his  manuscripts  should  be  destroyed 
at  his  death. 

Mr.  Jackson  was  not  buried  in  Brookline,  but  his  body 
was  carried  to  Boston,  and  deposited  in  his  family  tomb. 
He  left  a  daughter,  Sarah,  who  married  Atherton  Thayer, 
Esq.,  of  Braintree,  and  after  his  death,  his  brother  Ste- 
phen. She  died  in  1809,  leaving  a  son  and  three  daugh- 
ters. Mrs.  Jackson  died  in  1800. 

In  the  year  1759,  Mr.  Samuel  White  gave  a  wood-lot 
in  Newton,  to  the  First  Church,  for  the  perpetual  use  of 
the  ministry  in  Brookline. 

An  old  bill  in  our  possession  reads  as  follows  :  — 

"  Augst  ye  3  1763  Deacon  this  may  inform  you  that  I 
have  carted  the  Revnd  mr  Jackson  four  cord  &  a  half  of  wood 
&  I  pray  you  when  you  and  your  brethren  the  Select  men  meet 
you  would  writ  me  an  ordr  for  my  money  &  in  so  doing  you 
will  oblige  yours  to  serve 

old  tenor. 

22-10-0.  JOSIAH  WOODARD  " 


Mr.  Jackson  was  a  smoker,  and  when  the  ministers 
met  at  his  house,  it  was  customary  for  him  to  invite  such 
'of  his  guests  as  indulged  in  the  same  habit,  to  share  in  a 


J7 


250  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLIXE. 

social  smoke.  An  old  tin  case  for  pipes  and  tobacco, 
and  a  pair  of  tobacco  tongs,  were  long  preserved  in  the 
family  of  his  successor,  not  for  use,  but  as  curiosities. 

The  religious  views  held  by  Mr.  Jackson  and  his  pre- 
decessors, were  those  now  held  by  conservative,  or  old 
school,  Orthodox  churches.  The  dividing  line  between 
Unitarianism  and  Orthodoxy  had  not  then  been  so 
sharply  defined  as  to  leave  the  Brookline  Church  on  the 
liberal  side.  Mr.  Jackson  was  much  lamented  by  many 
friends,  not  only  in  his  own  church,  but  in  other  places. 
Many  persons  were  in  the  habit  of  walking  a  long  dis- 
tance, some  even  from  Dorchester,  to  hear  him  preach. 
With  all  his  diffidence  and  modesty  about  preaching  on 
public  occasions  (which  it  was  his  habit  to  decline),  he 
was  fearless  in  denouncing  what  he  believed  to  be  er- 
rors, either  in  belief  or  practice,  among  his  own  people. 

When  the  people  of  this  country  were  suffering  from 
impoverishment  by  the  Revolutionary  War,  and  many 
were  content  to  pay  their  obligations  to  their  clergymen 
in  depreciated  currency,  the  Brookline  people  showed 
their  appreciation  and  regard  for  Mr.  Jackson,  by  allow- 
ing him,  from  year  to  year,  above  his  stated  salary,  as 
much  more,  as  covered  all  his  annual  expenses. 


REV.    DR.    PIERCK.  251 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

REV.  DR.  PIERCE:    BIOGRAPHY.  —  MR.  PHILBRICK    AND    THE 

ANTI-SLAVERY    MOVEMENT. POLLY   HATCH:    ANECDOTES, 

HER  MARRIAGE  AND  DEATH. 

TN  writing  at  the  head  of  this  chapter  the  name  of  the 
-^  venerable  clergyman  so  well  remembered  and  so  much 
beloved  in  our  town,  we  feel  that  we  are  only  just  begin- 
ning the  story  of  the  First  Church,  he  was  so  long  iden- 
tified with  it,  and  was  so  essentially  a  part  of  Brookline. 
In  the  language  of  Rev.  Dr.  Putnam,  on  a  memorable 
occasion,  "  As  I  understand  it,  Dr.  Pierce  is  Brookline, 
and  Brookline  is  Dr.  Pierce." 

He  was  so  truly  identified  with  all  our  local  interests, 
that  Brookline  has  never  seemed  the  same  since  his  de- 
parture, to  those  who  knew  him,  that  it  did  before. 

Dr.  Pierce  was  born  in  Dorchester,  July  14,  1773. 
He  graduated,  holding  high  rank  in  his  class,  at  Harvard 
College,  in  1793.  He  was  for  the  two  succeeding  years 
assistant  preceptor  at  Leicester  Academy.  In  1795,  he 
commenced  the  study  of  theology  with  Rev.  Thaddeus 
Mason  Harris,  of  Dorchester. 

In  1797,  he  was  invited  to  fill  the  vacancy  in  the 
Brookline  Church,  caused  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Jackson. 
He  held  at  that  time  a  tutorship  at  Harvard  College. 
The  invitation  was  accepted,  and  he  was  ordain  3d  pastor 
of  the  Brookline  Church,  March  15,  1797. 

In  October  of  the  following  year,  he  was  married  to 
Miss  Lovell  of  Medway,  who  had  been  one  of  his  pupils 


252  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

at  the  Academy.  She  died  in  July,  1800,  leaving  an  in- 
fant son,  who  lived  but  two  years. 

In  1802,  Dr.  Pierce  was  married  to  Lucy  Tappan  of 
Northampton,  a  lady  beloved  for  her  quiet  virtues,  and 
who  lived  to  a  venerated  old  age. 

The  old  church  edifice,  which  had  now  been  standing 
more  than  fourscore  years,  was  quite  inadequate  to  ac- 
commodate the  increased  population  of  the  town.  The 
congregation  received  quite  a  large  accession  soon  after 
Dr.  Pierce's  ordination,  of  Dorchester  people,  who  re- 
moved here,  following  their  fellow  townsman,  in  whom 
they  took  a  just  pride.  Among  these  were  the  Robin- 
sons, Withingtons,  Leedses,  Tolmans,  and  others. 

The  subject  of  building  a  new  meeting-house  was 
soon  agitated,  and  some  mischievous  person,  probably 
desiring  to  facilitate  the  matter,  set  fire  to  the  old  one. 
It  was  soon  discovered,  and  extinguished  after  some  dam- 
age to  one  of  the  rear  corners. 

May  16,  1804,  it  was  voted  to  build  a  new  meeting- 
house on  the  site  of  the  old  one.  This,  however,  was 
found  to  be  impracticable  for  various  reasons,  and  the 
vote  was  reconsidered.  On  the  5th  of  September  of  the 
same  year,  it  was  voted  to  build  the  meeting-house  on 
the  spot  occupied  by  the  present  house. 

In  April,  1805,  the  corner-stone  was  laid.  The  frame 
was  raised  by  the  help  of  machinery  in  a  few  days.  The 
architect  and  master-builder  was  Mr.  Peter  Banner,  an 
Englishman.  This  man  settled  in  Brookline,  and  for 
many  years  after  his  death  his  widow  occupied  the  house 
in  Aspinwall  Avenue,  now  owned  by  Mr.  Melcher. 

The  new  meeting-house  stood  fronting  the  street,  with 
a  grass  plat  in  front  of  it.  It  was  sixty-eight  feet  long, 
and  sixty -four  feet  wide,  with  a  porch  nineteen  feet  long 
and  thirty-eight  feet  wide.  There  were  lobbies  or  ante- 


THE  MEETING-HOUSE.  253 

rooms  each  side  of  the  porch,  eleven  feet  square.  There 
was  no  cellar  under  the  building,  it  being  a  rocky  foun- 
dation, and  the  house  was  raised  up  a  little  from  the 
ground,  and  openings  on  either  side  in  the  under-pinning 
afforded  space  for  ventilation.  The  height  of  the  house 
was  thirty-five  feet  and  six  inches  from  the  foundation 
to  the  eaves.  The  spire  measured  one  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  feet  from  the  ground. 

There  were  seventy-four  pews  on  the  floor  and  four- 
teen in  the  gallery.  Afterwards,  during  Dr.  Pierce's 
ministry,  some  improvements  were  added.  No  provision 
was  ever  made  for  warming  the  old  church,  and  the 
women  carried  foot-stoves  with  them.  The  new  church 
was  warmed  by  two  square  box  stoves,  in  which  wood 
was  burned. 

The  pulpit  and  the  caps  of  the  pews  were  made  of 
southern  cherry-wood,  contributed  by  Stephen  Higgin- 
son,  Jr.  The  bell,  which  was  cast  in  London,  and  weighed 
one  thousand  pounds,  was  given  by  Hon.  Stephen  Hig- 
ginson,  father  of  the  above. 

Mr.  John  Lucas,  who  lived  nearly  opposite  the  Reser- 
voir, gave  four  hundred  dollars,  out  of  which  was  pur- 
chased a  clock,  which  served  faithfully  as  long  as  the  old 
meeting-house  stood,  and  still  does  duty  in  the  old  Town 
Hall. 

Richard  Sullivan,  Esq.,  who  lived  on  the  place  now 
owned  by  Mrs.  Bowditch,  gave  a  hundred  and  fifty  dol- 
lars, for  the  stone  steps.  Mr.  Thomas  Walley  gave  an 
elegant  pulpit  Bible,  valued  at  thirty-six  dollars.  Mr. 
David  Hyslop  gave  a  baptismal  basin,  which  cost  forty- 
seven  dollars. 

The  whole  cost  of  the  house  was  $18,083.  Some  ad- 
ditional expenses,  of  furnishing,  probably,  brought  the 
amount  up  to  $20,193,  and  the  whole  was  apportioned 
on  the  pews,  which  were  sold  at  auction. 


254  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

No  pew  on  the  first  floor  was  prized  at  less  than  one 
hundred  and  sixty  dollars,  and  none  in  the  gallery  at  less 
than  one  hundred  and  ten  dollars.  The  highest  cost  of 
a  pew,  including  a  bonus  paid  for  a  choice,  was  five  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  dollars. 

Dr.  Pierce  preached  a  valedictory  sermon  on  leaving 
the  old  house,  June  8,  1806,  from  the  text,  "  Lord  I  have 
loved  the  habitation  of  thy  house  and  the  place  where 
thine  honor  dwelleth." 

The  dedication  sermon  was  from  the  words,  "  In  all 
places  where  I  record  my  name,  I  will  come  unto  thee 
and  I  will  bless  thee." 

The  next  day,  the  work  of  demolishing  the  old  church 
commenced.  The  ancient  pulpit  which  had  been  faith- 
fully pounded  and  belabored  by  the  fists  of  the  energetic 
Mr.  Jackson,  was  denuded  of  its  upholstery,  and  carried 
into  the  parsonage  attic,  where  it  served  as  a  playhouse 
for  the  pastor's  children  for  many  years.  It  has  since 
been  tastefully  remodeled  as  a  bookcase,  and  still  graces 
the  parsonage.  The  hour-glass,  whose  sands  had  run 
through  many  a  tedious  hour  for  the  unfed  souls  in  the 
old  house,  or  had  needed  turning  only  too  quickly  for 
the  more  devotional,  now  served  its  time  in  fleeting  min- 
utes among  the  attic  treasures  of  the  little  ones.  The 
ancient  pewter  christening  basin,  from  which  Mr.  Jack- 
son had  bathed  the  infant  brow  of  many  a  now  gray- 
haired  father  and  mother  of  the  town,  was  turned  to 
domestic  uses  in  the  pastor's  house.  After  many  vicissi- 
tudes it  came  into  possession  of  the  writer,  with  the 
ancient  tin  tobacco  case,  previously  mentioned  as  belong- 
ing to  Mr.  Jackson,  after  the  death  of  the  late  David 
R.  Griggs,  to  whom  they  had  been  given  as  curiosities. 

It  seems  that  the  ancient  church  for  many  years,  in- 
stead of  having  a  sexton,  was  taken  care  of  by  a  slave 


SINGING   IN   THE   FIRST    CHURCH.  255 

belonging  to  the  Sewall  family,  as  Henry  Sewall's  bill 
against  the  town  for  the  services  of  his  "  slave  Felix," 
in  that  capacity,  is  still  in  existence. 

The  first  white  sexton  •  of  whom  we  can  gather  any 
account,  was  a  man  named  Blanchard,  who  lived  in  a 
little  house  on  the  Aspinwall  estate,  close  to  Washington 
Street.  He  was  succeeded,  if  we  are  correctly  informed, 
by  Captain  Benjamin  Bradley,  who  served  for  many 
years  in  that  capacity,  after  the  second  meeting-house 
was  built. 

Very  little  information  has  come  down  to  us  respecting 
the  singing  in  the  First  Church,  in  the  early  times.  A 
brief  note  written  by  Mr.  Jackson  lets  a  ray  of  light  on 
the  forgotten  history  of  those  days.  It  is  addressed  to 
Mr.  Isaac  Gardner,  who  was  afterwards  killed  at  Lex- 
ington. 

"BROOKLIN  Any.  8,  1763. 

"  Sir, 

"  I  perceived  it  was  not  agreeable  to  you  to  lead  in  the 
singing  yesterday  —  If  Mr.  Aspinwall  does  not  return  before 
ye  Thanksgiving  I  will  speak  to  Mr.  Bowles, 

Yrs. 

J.  JACKSON.  " 

What  Mr.  Aspinwall  this  was,  we  have  no  means  of 
knowing,  but  it  is  certain  that  Mr.  Isaac  Gardner  was  a 
fine  singer,  and  did  "  lead  in  the  singing,"  as  did  his  son 
Isaac  S.  Gardner,  after  him.  The  bass-viol  and  trom- 
bone were  the  principal  instruments  used.  When  Dr. 
Pierce  came,  a  new  impulse  was  given  to  the  music,  as 
he  had  a  clear,  strong  voice,  and  sang  with  great  energy. 

After  Dr.  Pierce  had  been  for  some  time  settled  in 
Brookline,  a  board  of  trustees  was  organized  to  take 
charge  of  all  matters  concerning  the  church  music.  Mr. 
Ebenezer  Heath  was  president  and  secretary,  and  Dr. 
Charles  Wild,  vice-presideut. 


256  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

By  request  of  Mr.  Heath,  on  behalf  of  the  board,  Mr. 
Benjamin  B.  Davis  was  requested  to  take  charge  of  the 
singing,  as  chorister,  in  the  year  1818.  Of  the  faithful 
devotion  with  which  for  thirty-eight  years  he  led  the 
choir,  any  attendant  upon  Dr.  Pierce's  ministry  for  that 
length  of  time  will  bear  witness. 

The  choir  consisted  of  thirty  members,  many  of  the 
names  being  still  familiar  to  the  people  of  the  town. 
Prominent  among  these  at  that  time,  or  a  little  later, 
were  Deacon  Pierce,  James  Pierce,  John  Woodward, 
Jabez  Hunting,  Lewis  Withington,  James  Leeds,  Samuel 
Barry,  Jeremiah  Lyon,  E.  W.  Stone,  Eben  Heath, 
Charles  Heath,  Jona  Jackson,  Capt.  Charles  Stearns, 
Marshall  Stearns,  James  Robinson,  the  daughters  of  Mr. 
James  Pierce,  Eunice  Ford,  Ann  Dunn,  two  daughters 
of  Mr.  Celfe,  three  daughters  of  Dr.  Pierce,  and  some 
years  later,  Susan,  the  eldest  daughter  of  Mr.  Benjamin 
B.  Davis.  This  young  lady  was  not  only  a  sweet  singer, 
but  lovely  in  mind  and  person,  deservedly  a  favorite  with 
all  who  knew  her.  But  her  fair  young  life,  only  just 
unfolding  its  charms  to  a  loving  circle  of  friends,  was  like 
a  spring  flower,  the  joy  of  but  a  brief  season ;  and  the 
voice  which  had  given  such  pleasure  on  earth,  was  called 
to  join  the  choirs  who  praise  in  "  the  house  not  made 
with  hands."  Several  years  afterwards,  the  other  daugh- 
ter of  Mr.  Davis,  who  was  also  a  member  of  the  choir, 
died  young,  leaving  a  childless  father  to  sing  sorrowfully 
without  them. 

Mr.  James  Pierce,  who  also  played  the  bass-viol,  as 
well  as  sung,  took  his  little  daughters  into  "  the  singers' 
seats,"  when  they  were  so  small  that  they  were  obliged 
to  stand  on  crickets  to  bring  their  heads  above  the  balus- 
trade. One  of  them,  who  was  afterwards  the  wife  of 
Charles  Stearns,  Jr.,  was  for  years  the  leader  of  the 
female  voices. 


SACRED   MUSIC.  257 

The  instrumental  music,  as  there  was  no  organ,  was 
subject  to  variations  at  different  times,  but  several  per- 
formers were  for  years  identified  with  the  society.  Among 
these  were  William  H.  Brown,  who  played  the  bassoon, 
John  H.  Pierce,  Dr.  Charles  Wild,  and  Charles  Lyon, 
the  flute,  George  Murdock,  bass-viol,  Artemas  Newell, 
bombadoon,  Job  Grush,  clarionet,  and  somewhat  later, 
Mr.  Flagg,  who  for  several  years  was  hired,  also  played 
the  clarionet. 

Dr.  Pierce  attended  nearly  all  the  meetings  of  the 
choir,  for  practice,  and  his  affable  and  courteous  manners, 
and  the  intense  interest  which  he  took  in  sacred  music, 
no  doubt  had  much  influence  in  preserving  harmony 
among  the  members,  and  keeping  up  their  interest.  He 
usually  stood  in  the  pulpit  and  joined  with  great  fervor 
in  the  singing.  He  frequently  attended  the  Oratorios  of 
the  Handel  and  Haydn  Society,  and  enjoyed  them  ex- 
ceedingly. Dr.  Pierce  and  Dr.  Bates  of  Dedham  called 
a  meeting  of  the  singers  of  Norfolk  County,  to  improve 
church  music,  from  the  use  of  newly  published  books. 
On  one  occasion  when  there  was  an  unusually  severe 
snow-storm,  there  were  but  thirteen  persons  at  church, 
but  Dr.  Pierce  went  through  the  services  as  usual,  and 
he  and  Mr.  Davis  were  the  choir. 

Among  the  Doctor's  parishioners  was  Mr.  David  Hys- 
lop,  an  estimable  citizen,  but  who  could  not  tell  one  tune 
from  another.  One  Sunday,  a  stranger  who  was  preach- 
ing instead  of  Dr.  Pierce,  took  occasion  to  quote  in  his 
sermon, 

"  The  man  who  has  no  music  in  his  soul, 
Is  fit  for  treason,  stratagem,  and  spoil." 

Mr.  Hyslop  felt  himself  severely  reflected  upon,  and 
rising  from  his  seat  near  the  pulpit  he  walked  deliber- 
ately out. 


258  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

It  was  customary  to  open  the  services  with  an  anthem. 
One  Sabbath  morning  a  dog,  which  had  ventured  into 
the  church  in  search  of  his  master,  had  readied  the  broad 
stair  near  the  pulpit,  when  suddenly,  the  preliminary 
scrape  of  the  instruments  being  given,  the  choir  burst 
forth  in  a  jubilant  anthem.  The  terrified  dog,  having 
no  ear  for  music,  set  up  a  tumultuous  barking,  which 
accompaniment  not  having  a  tendency  to  promote  de- 
votional feelings  on  the  part  of  the  congregation,  the 
sexton  appeared  and  assisted  him  in  retiring  promptly 
from  the  scene. 

Great  attention  was  given  to  rehearsing  suitable  music 
for  Thanksgiving  Days.  Sometimes  a  sum  was  raised 
by  subscription  to  secure  the  services  of  some  extra 
musicians  from  Boston,  so  that  there  was  quite  an  or- 
chestra. 

In  the  year  1800,  there  were  but  six  hundred  and  five 
inhabitants  in  Brookline,  but  it  will  be  recollected  that 
no  other  church  was  formed  until  1828.  Most  of  the 
church-going  people,  therefore,  were  attendants  upon 
Dr.  Pierce's  ministry.  He  knew  personally  every  man, 
woman,  and  child,  who  thus  attended,  and  remembered 
the  name  and  age  of  every  child  whom  he  baptized,  and 
none  were  beneath  his  notice  or  ever  forgotten. 

For  many  years,  Dr.  Pierce's  salary  was  but  four  hun- 
dred dollars,  besides  the  rent  of  the  parsonage  and  a  sup- 
ply of  firewood  annually.  This,  however,  was  generously 
supplemented  by  his  people  by  gifts  of  every  sort,  and 
neither  he  nor  his  large  family  knew  any  lack.  This, 
however,  was  greatly  owing  to  remarkable  domestic  econ- 
omy. 

The  church  was  thrifty  but  not  wealthy,  as  the  people 
were  chiefly  plain  farmers  or  mechanics.  There  was 
however  a  gradual  increase  of  merchants  either  active  or 


ECCENTRIC   INDIVIDUALS.  259 

retired,  among  the  tax- payers,  and  an  increase  of  wealth 
in  the  society,  and  also  of  culture. 

One  upholstered  pew  in  the  church  was  looked  upon  as 
a  most  aristocratic  institution.  This  was  the  property  of 
Mr.  David  Hyslop,  who  also  indulged  in  the  luxury  of  red 
morocco  covered  books  with  his  family  coat  of  arms  upon 
them,  and  a  drawer  in  the  pew  to  hold  them,  greatly 
to  the  admiration  or  envy  of  the  children  of  the  less 
favored. 

Any  attempt  at  display  in  dress  or  manners  was  no- 
ticed fifty  years  ago  in  Brookline,  as  the  same  things  are 
now  in  obscure  country  villages.  There  were  eccentric 
individuals,  curious  oddities,  intermingled  with  the  gen- 
eral average  of  the  people,  any  one  of  whom  might  be 
the  subject  of  an  entertaining  sketch.  Among  these  were 
Black  Susy,  of  whom  we  have  already  written,  who  always 
sat  in  the  high  narrow  pew  above  the  singers'  seats,  known 
as  ''the  negro  pew,"  —  and  Miss  Prudy  Heath,  a  quaint 
character,  who  was  never  seen  in  the  street  without  a  large 
green  cotton  umbrella,  yet  who  remembered  her  minister 
with  many  generous  gifts.  Many  anecdotes  are  told  of 
these  persons. 

There  was  also  at  one  time  an  Englishman,  employed 
as  a  shoemaker,  who  appeared  on  Sundays  at  church  in 
the  afternoon  in  small-clothes  and  a  generous  expanse  of 
highly  ruffled  shirt-bosom,  always  with  a  rose  in  his  but- 
ton-hole as  long  as  roses  lasted.  He  was  a  subject  for 
much  amusement  and  comment,  and  just  such  a  character 
as  to  call  out  the  quizzing  propensities  of  such  a  wag  as 
the  late  well-remembered  Jerry  Davenport,  who  sat  con- 
veniently near  him  in  church.  The  hero  of  the  ruffles 
and  roses  was  usually  asleep  soon  after  the  sermon  began, 
and  on  waking  had  a  habit  of  smelling  at  the  rose  he  car- 
ried with  great  energy. 


260  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

One  Sunday  the  irrepressible  Jerry,  quietly  reaching 
over  the  sleeper,  filled  the  rose  in  his  button-hole  with 
pungent  snuff,  which  he  carried  for  the  purpose.  After 
a  while  the  sleeper  woke,  and  as  usual  drew  out  the  rose 
and  took  a  vigorous  smell  at  it.  Such  a  sneezing  as  fol- 
lowed !  Sneeze  upon  sneeze,  which  could  not  be  held 
back  or  smothered,  and  the  discomfited  dandy  made  the 
best  of  his  way  out  of  church  sneezing  till  he  was  out  of 
hearing.  The  joke  was  better  than  a  good  dinner  to  the 
waggish  perpetrator,  who  chuckled  over  it  long  afterwards 
with  great  delight. 

In  1829  or  1830,  Mr.  Elisha  Stone  succeeded  Captain 
Bradley  as  sexton  of  the  church,  which  office  he  filled  for 
thirty  years.  He  was  a  plodding  but  faithful  citizen  in 
the  duties  not  only  of  his  office  as  sexton,  but  was  the 
only  undertaker  and  constable  in  the  town  for  many 
years.  He  lived  to  lay  away  all  but  two  of  his  own  large 
family  in  the  cemetery  whither  he  had  carried  so  many  of 
our  townspeople,  and  where  at  last  he  was  borne,  worn 
out  with  the  infirmities  of  age. 

Previous  to  Dr.  Pierce's  time  there  had  been  presented 
at  various  times  to  the  First  Church  four  silver  tankards. 
One  was  the  gift  of  Edward  Devotion  in  1744,  one  the 
gift  of  Miss  Mary  Allen,  daughter  of  the  first  minister, 
in  1750  ;  one  was  given  by  Miss  Ann  White,  and  one 
by  Mrs.  Susanna  Sharp  in  1770.  In  the  same  year  two 
silver  cups  were  presented  by  Thomas  and  Mary  Wood- 
ward, and  two  more  were  given  by  William  Hyslop  in 
1792.  This  ancient  silver  is  still  the  property  of  the 
church  just  as  it  was  presented. 

In  addition  to  these,  two  silver  cups  were  presented  by 
Miss  Prudence  Heath  in  1818,  and  two  by  Deacon  Robin- 
son and  wife  the  same  year.  In  the  year  1805  Dr.  Pierce 
preached  a  sermon  on  the  anniversary  of  the  completion 


A   MATTER-OF-FACT   MAN.  261 

of  a  century  from  the  incorporation  of  the  town.  In 
1837,  when  he  had  been  settled  forty  years,  he  delivered 
an  address  called  "  Reminiscences  of  Forty  Years,"  filled 
Avith  interesting  local  history  and  rich  in  valuable  statis- 
tics. In  1845,  when  the  second  Town  Hall  was  dedi- 
cated, he  delivered  an  address  which  exceeded  the  previous 
one  in  historical  value,  and  created  a  great  interest.  It 
was  printed  and  freely  circulated.  A  valuable  appendix 
to  this  document  has  been  a  mine  of  information,  from 
which  much  material  for  these  sketches  has  been  drawn. 

The  Doctor  called  himself  a  matter-of-fact  man,  and  he 
was  eminently  so.  Not  an  incident  of  local  or  public 
interest  but  was  treasured  up  in  his  memory  ;  not  a  birth, 
death,  or  house-raising  in  the  town  but  he  recorded  and 
remembered  it ;  not  a  circumstance  connected  with  the 
schools  or  teachers,  that  did  not  enlist  his  interest.  "  There 
was,"  it  has  been  said,  almost  "  as  much  truth  as  wit  in 
the  remark  of  the  late  Judge  Davis,  when  —  all  other  at- 
tempts to  find  out  having  failed,  and  Dr.  Pierce  could  not 
tell  the  birth-place  of  a  certain  person  —  he  said,  that  it 
was  no  use  to  make  further  inquiries ;  for  if  the  Doctor 
did  not  know  where  the  man  was  born,  he  ivas  not  born 
anywhere."  * 

A  strong  friendship  existed  between  Dr.  Pierce  and 
Rev.  "Win.  H.  Shailer,  the  third  minister  of  the  Baptist 
Church.  In  1840  when  the  Baptist  Church  was  enlarged 
and  remodeled,  a  cordial  invitation  was  given  the  people 
of  that  society  to  worship  in  the  First  Church  while 
the  repairs  were  going  on.  This  was  gratefully  accepted, 
and  Dr.  Pierce  and  Mr.  Shailer  occupied  the  pulpit  to- 
gether, one  preaching  in  the  forenoon  and  the  other  in 
the  afternoon. 

*  A  conundrum  had  local  circulation  at  one  time,  to  this  effect :  "  Why  is 
Dr.  Pierce  like  a  palm-tree?  "  but  the  dullest  could  scarcely  fail  of  giving  the 
only  possible  answer:  "Because  he  bears  dates." 


262  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

When  a  half  century  from  his  ordination  had  elapsed, 
Dr.  Pierce  had  a  jubilee,  which  was  one  of  the  pleas- 
antest  local  affairs  which  ever  occurred  in  the  town. 
Scattered  natives  of  the  town  came  home  from  distant 
places  to  participate  in  it,  and  hosts  of  friends  of  the  good 
old  minister,  from  far  and  near,  joined  in  the  celebration 
to  which  he  and  they  had  long  looked  forward.  Dr. 
Pierce's  discourse  was  from  the  text,  "  I  have  been  young 
and  now  am  old."  It  was  like  the  other  addresses  alluded 
to,  full  of  historical  interest,  and  is  invaluable  for  the  sta- 
tistics it  contains.  In  the  evening  there  was  a  collation 
at  the  Town  Hall,  and  a  presentation  of  silver-plate, 
money,  and  flowers  to  the  venerable  man  who  was  the 
centre  of  interest.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Rev. 
Dr.  Putnam  made  the  remark,  previously  quoted,  that 
"  Dr.  Pierce  is  Brookline  and  Brookline  is  Dr.  Pierce." 

At  this  time,  March  15,  1847,  Dr.  Pierce  was  in  vig- 
orous health,  and  as  full  of  energy  as  at  any  time  during 
his  life.  He  however  consented  to  the  appointment  of  a 
colleague,  Rev.  Frederic  N.  Knapp,  who  was  ordained 
October  6,  of  the  same  year,  but  he  continued  to  preach, 
and  to  take  part  in  various  meetings,  both  in  Brookline 
and  in  various  other  places. 

The  meeting-house  and  the  minister  grew  old  together. 
There  would  have  been  something  incongruous  in  the 
building  of  a  modern  church,  with  stained-glass  windows 
and  new  and  fashionable  appointments,  while  Dr.  Pierce 
was  the  only  minister.  The  house  and  the  minister  were 
in  perfect  adaptation  to  each  other.  Many  regretted  that 
the  fine  substantial  old  edifice  should  be  taken  down.  It 
much  resembled  Dr.  Putnam's  church  on  Roxbury  Hill, 
and  might  have  been  as  well  preserved  till  the  present 
day  ;  but  there  being  no  cellar  under  it,  furnaces  could 
not  be  introduced,  and  it  was  not  thought  advisable  to  re- 


LAST   ILLNESS   OF  DR.   PIERCE. 

fit  a  building  which  must  be  warmed  by  stoves.  It  was 
also  difficult  for  Mr.  Knapp  to  preach  in  it.  In  1848  the 
new  church  at  present  standing  was  built.  The  dedica- 
tion took  place  December  1,  1848.  The  shrubbery 
around  it  was  set  out  by  Dr.  Charles  Wild,  in  the  spring 
of  1849.  In  March,  Dr.  Pierce  was  seized  with  a  sharp, 
sudden  illness.  Relief  was  obtained,  but  not  a  cure.  He 
continued  to  suffer  great  pain,  and  as  weeks  passed  on 
seemed  gradually  failing.  During  his  long  ministry  he 
had  lost  only  thirteen  Sabbaths  by  ill-health,  and  several 
of  those  were  in  1805,  when  he  had  a  rheumatic  fever. 

He  was  a  fine-looking,  tall,  large  framed  man,  with  a 
countenance  "  beaming  with  cheerfulness  and  benignity." 
His  hair,  from  his  early  manhood,  was  almost  white,  and 
became  beautiful  in  its  snowy  whiteness  long  before  he 
was  old.  He  remarked  during  his  last  sickness  that  for 
forty  years  he  had  not  known  what  it  was  to  have  a  phys- 
ical infirmity  Avorth  naming.  He  had  always  had  a  habit 
of  rising  early,  and  either  sawing  or  splitting  wood, 
or  working  in  his  garden  for  two  hours  or  more  before 
breakfast.  He  was  so  vigorous  a  walker  that  when  on  an 
exchange  anywhere  within  six  or  seven  miles,  he  used  to 
go  out  and  back  on  foot,  and  without  fatigue.  He  was 
temperate  both  in  eating  and  drinking  and  economical 
without  a  shade  of  meanness  or  miserly  tendency. 

When  it  was  talked  of  that  Dr.  Pierce  was  ill  and  might 
not  recover,  the  community  was  shocked.  The  very  idea 
of  sickness  was  scarcely  to  be  entertained  in  connection 
with  such  a  personification  of  health  and  vigor.  Nobody 
seemed  to  have  thought  that  he  could  die,  at  least  till  ex- 
treme old  age  should  gradually  impair  his  energies. 

He  belonged  to  a  long-lived  family  and  though  at  an 
age  when  most  men  grow  infirm,  he  was  as  elastic  and  vig- 
orous as  a  boy,  till  the  day  of  his  first  attack  of  illness. 


264  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

All  was  done  that  love  and  skill  could  suggest  to  arrest 
the  course  of  the  disease,  but  in  vain,  and  it  soon  became 
apparent  that  the  beloved  pastor  and  friend  of  the  people 
was  soon  to  be  called  away.  Unused  as  he  was  to  illness, 
there  was  no  irritability  or  impatience,  and  with  unfailing 
serenity  and  cheerfulness  he  waited  for  the  end.  In 
August  of  that  year  a  new  organ  was  placed  in  the  church, 
and  on  Saturday  the  18th,  there  was  a  trial  of  the  instru- 
ment. This  was  of  course  an  event  of  great  interest  to 
one  so  fond  of  music  as  the  Doctor,  and  though  he  was  too 
feeble  to  walk  or  ride,  he  was  carried  in  his  chair  by  some 
of  his  young  friends,  to  the  church.  There  he  read  some 
passages  from  the  Scriptures  and  a  hymn,  joining  heartily 
in  the  singing.  At  his  own  special  request  the  tune  sung 
was  "  Old  Hundred,"  which  Dr.  Pierce  used  to  say  was 
"  the  best  tune  that  ever  was  written  or  ever  would  be." 

All  rose  and  sung  the  hymn,  standing,  exeept  the  Doc- 
tor himself,  who  playfully  asked  that  the  old  pastor  be 
excused,  as  he  no  longer  belonged  to  "  the  rising  genera- 
tion." 

He  was  borne  to  his  home  by  the  same  loving  hands, 
never  to  be  carried  out  again  till  he  was  carried  for  burial. 
Daily,  however,  he  received  the  visits  of  a  host  of  friends, 
who  came  laden  with  flowers,  fruits,  or  other  proofs  of 
their  affection  ;  and  in  the  words  of  another,  "  wealth 
never  purchased  and  power  never  won  attentions  of  all 
kinds  so  devoted  and  loving  as  were  gladly  rendered  with- 
out stint  and  in  constant  anticipation  of  his  slightest 
wishes,"  not  merely  from  his  own  society  or  townspeople 
but  from  all  sects  and  many  towns  and  the  neighboring 
cities. 

The  great  friendship  between  Dr.  Pierce  and  Rev. 
Mr.  Shailer,  whom  he  often  called  his  "  oldest  son," 
seemed  to  grow  stronger  as  the  former  was  drawing  near 


DEATH   OF  DR.   PIERCE.  —  FUNERAL   SOLEMNITIES.      265 

to  the  close  of  life.  For  three  months,  Mr.  Shailer 
visited  him  three  times  a  week  and  carefully  shaved  him, 
and  by  reading  or  genial  conversation  beguiled  the  tedious 
hours  of  illness.  Among  his  numerous  visitors,  were  one 
hundred  and  twenty  clergymen,  representing  seven  differ- 
ent denominations. 

His  colleague,  Rev.  Mr.  Knapp,  was  also  one  with 
whom  he  had  most  cordial  sympathy,  and  whom  he  would 
have  chosen  to  fill  that  place  had  the  matter  been  left  to 
him.  to  decide.  So  that  his  people  in  deciding  according 
to  their  own  choice,  had  also  acted  in  accordance  with 
the  wishes  of  their  pastor. 

Dr.  Pierce  failed  very  rapidly  after  his  visit  to  the 
church,  at  the  trial  of  the  organ,  but  retained  possession 
of  his  faculties  and  consciousness  until  the  evening  of 
Thursday,  August  23.  His  last  words  were  spoken  that 
evening  to  Mr.  Shailer,  who  with  the  family  and  two  or 
three  near  friends  were  present.  Mr.  Shailer  made  an 
inquiry  respecting  the  petition  which  he  should  offer  for 
him  in  the  evening  prayer,  to  which  he  replied,  "  Entire 
submission  to  the  Divine  will."  He  never  spoke  again, 
but  still  reclining  in  the  chair  which  he  had  occupied  for 
weeks,  without  lying  down,  he  quietly  breathed  his  last 
at  half-past  eleven  in  the  forenoon,  August  24,  1849, 
aged  seventy-six  years. 

The  funeral  solemnities  took  place  at  the  church,  on 
the  afternoon  of  the  27th.  There  were  no  gloomy  dra- 
peries, —  they  would  have  ill  befitted  the  last  offices  for 
one  who  had  been  preeminently  an  apostle  of  cheerful- 
ness, who  had  done  his  life's  work  well,  and  peacefully 
passed  on. 

The  baptismal  font  was  filled  with  white  flowers,  and 
a  wreath  was  laid  upon  the  coffin  by  one  of  the  children 
of  the  Sunday-school. 

18 


266  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  body  was  borne  from  the  parsonage  to  the  church 
by  the  same  young  men  who  had  carried  him  thither  a 
week  before,  attended  by  eight  clergymen  as  pall-bear- 
ers. Rev.  Mr.  Shailer  read  the  Scriptures,  tjie  venerable 
Dr.  Lowell  of  Boston  offered  the  prayer  (in  compliance 
with  the  special  wish  of  Dr.  Pierce),  and  Rev.  Mr.  Knapp, 
his  colleague,  delivered  the  discourse.  The  last  message 
of  the  dying  minister  to  his  people  was  so  beautiful,  that 
we  give  it  as  repeated  by  Mr.  Knapp  on  this  solemn  oc- 
casion. 

44  When  you  gather  with  my  friends  around  my  re- 
mains," he  said,  "  read  to  them  those  cheering  words  of 
Jesus,  '  I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life ;  he  that  be- 
lieveth  on  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall  he  live  ; 
and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  on  me  shall  never  die.' 
and  say  to  my  people,"  he  continued,  "  my  faith  and  hope 
are  there ;  that  I  do  not  feel  that  I  shall  ever  die,  but 
only  pass  on  to  a  higher  life.  And  beseech  them,"  he 
added,  "  beseech  them,  if  they  love  me,  and  would  ex- 
press their  love,  to  do  it  by  remembering  me  while  they 
seek  Christ  as  their  Saviour,  and  strive  to  live  as  his 
disciples." 

The  services  at  the  church  were  attended  by  a  great 
concourse  of  people,  many  of  whom  were  unable  to  enter 
it  at  all,  but  who  followed  the  remains  to  the  cemetery. 
Among  them  were  the  entire  theological  schools,  students 
and  professors,  from  Cambridge  and  Newton,  the  presi- 
dent and  two  ex-presidents  of  Harvard  College.  An 
old  lady,  upwards  of  eighty  years  of  age,  walked  from 
Roxbury  that  afternoon,  not  having  heard  of  his  death, 
hoping  to  see  him  once  more  living,  and  arrived  at  the 
cemetery  just  in  time  to  see  the  beloved  face  as  it  lay  in 
the  light  of  the  summer  sunset,  before  it  was  shut  out 
from  sight  forever. 


THEOLOGICAL   VIEWS   OF   DR.    PIERCE.  2G7 

A  simple  white  monument  just  within  the  cemetery 
wall  marks  his  last  resting  place. 

We  have  purposely  omitted,  hitherto,  speaking  of  Dr. 
Pierce's  theological  views,  preferring  to  give  first  his 
final  message  to  his  people.  We  now  subjoin  an  extract 
from  an  article  which  appeared  in  the  "  Christian  In- 
quirer," soon  after  his  death,  and  which  is  considered  by 
those  better  qualified  to  judge,  a  fair  and  just  estimate 
of  him  as  a  preacher. 

"  He  uniformly  refused  to  be  classed  with  any  sect  whatever, 
or  to  take  any  names  except  those  of  a  '  Congregationalist '  and 
a  '  Christian.'  He  seldom  preached  doctrinal  sermons.  He  had 
no  taste  for  controversy ;  and  hardly  ever  indulged  in  expres- 
sions of  his  belief  clothed  in  any  other  phraseology  than  that  of 
the  Bible.  For  any  party  to  claim  him  as  a  member  on  account 
of  his  opinions  would  be  showing  a  sad  want  of  respect  to  his 
memory,  and  an  utter  disregard  of  his  feelings  and  wishes  when 
alive. 

"  No  one  has  any  moral  right  to  do  for  him  that  which  he 
always  refused  to  do  for  himself —  class  him  anywhere  as  a 
theologian.  He  must  be  simply  known  as  an  '  eclectic  Chris- 
tian,' to  use  his  own  terms ;  and  if  this  phrase  is  indefinite,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  it  has  all  the  precision  which  he 
desired.  On  one  point  we  may  however  be  very  explicit.  He 
set  his  face  like  a  flint  against  every  form  of  sectarian  exclu- 
siveness  and  bigotry,  and  was  only  intolerant  toward  those  who 
ventured  to  judge  any  body  of  believers  in  Christ,  and  to  deny 
them  the  Master's  name. 

"  Towards  some  views  —  more  or  less  prevalent  in  New  Eng- 
land of  late  years  —  he  might  have  failed  a  little  in  preserving 
that  '  Charity  which  is  not  easily  provoked  ' ;  but  on  the  whole, 
his  Catholicism  was  a  marked  trait  in  his  character,  which,  often 
severely  tried,  was  seldom  found  wanting.  He  was  an  earnest, 
plain  preacher ;  dealing  generally  with  practical  subjects,  with- 
out seeking  originality  of  thought,  or  being  remarkable  for  any 
graces  of  rhetoric. 


268  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

"  Perhaps,  as  we  have  already  hinted,  had  his  quotations  from 
Scripture  beeu  more  sparing,  his  discourses  would  have  gained 
more  in  clearness.  Alluding  to  this  feature  in  his  sermons,  a 
friend  remarked  lately  to  us, '  that  Dr.  Pierce  certainly  preached 
the  Bible.' 

•'  But  his  style  was  that  of  former  days  ;  and  few  men  have 
retained  so  much  of  their  early  acceptableness  in  the  pulpit, 
owing  to  the  impression  he  made  upon  his  hearers  of  his  own 
deep  sincerity  and  unfeigned  piety.  You  felt  that  he  believed 
with  his  whole  heart  and  soul  everything  he  said,  and  was  thor- 
oughly in  earnest.  It  was,  however,  by  the  daily  beauty  of  his 
life  as  the  faithful  pastor,  that  Dr.  Pierce  won  the  confidence 
and  affection  of  his  people With  the  same  hearty  sim- 
plicity he  visited  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  refined  and  the  un- 
learned, and  though  there  were  wide  diversities  in  the  social 
condition  of  the  members  of  his  society,  there  were  none  to 
charge  him  with  partiality,  none  to  doubt  his  friendliness  and 
ready  sympathies." 

His  memory  has  been  kept  fresh,  and  is  still  dear  to  all 
who  knew  him ;  and  the  recollections  of  the  hallowed 
months  of  beautiful  serenity  and  peace  and  faith,  which 
made  his  sick  room  like  the  threshold  of  the  heavenly 
kingdom,  have  been  a  ministry  of  holy  influences  to 
many  souls. 

The  following  lines  were  written  for  the  family  of  Dr. 
Pierce.* 

THE  BURIAL. 

LISTEN  !  the  tolling  bell 
Rolls  its  deep  cadence  on  the  summer  air; 

And  gathering  mourners  swell 
The  waiting  numbers  in  the  house  of  prayer. 

Silence  is  on  the  throng,  — 
Save  the  deep  organ-tones  so  sadly  sweet ; 

Why  lingereth  so  long 
The  pastor,  ever  wont  his  flock  to  meet? 

*  Inserted  here  by  request  of  his  daughter,  Miss  A.  L.  Pierce. 


MR.   PHILBRICK.  269 

Hush !  for  he  cometh  now ! 
Cometh,  —  but  not  as  in  the  days  gone  by ; 

Death's  shadow  marks  his  brow 
And  leaves  its  dimness  in  the  half-shut  eye. 

He  cometh,  —  not  as  when 
His  brisk,  firm  tread  was  heard  along  the  aisle,  — 

But  borne  by  sorrowing  men, 
And  mourning  hundreds  hush  their  hearts  the  while. 

The  solemn  service  o'er 
They  bear  him  hence  in  silence  and  in  tears; 

Never !  no  never  more 
Those  lips  shall  counsel  as  in  other  years. 

Never !  no  never  more ! 
Henceforth  a  void  is  left !  A  shining  light, 

A  beacon  from  the  shore 
Is  quenched,  and  sorrow  shades  us  as  the  night. 

Yet  'tis  not  quenched  but  gone ! 
Leaving  a  blank  where  late  hath  shone  a  star,  — 

But  from  the  world  unknown 
The  distant  heaven,  it  shineth  yet  afar. 

We  mourn  who  loved  him  here, 
And  who  that  knew  him  e'er  could  fail  to  love? 

Yet  we  would  dry  the  tear 
And  strive  to  meet  him  in  the  world  above. 

The  silver}'  locks  are  gone! 
His  voice  can  join  our  hymns  of  praise  no  more ; 

Heaven  hath  an  angel  won ; 
Father  Divine !     Forgive  if  we  deplore ! 

In  the  words  of  his  colleague,  in  his  funeral  discourse : 
"  Simply  thus  to  dwell  upon  the  life  of  a  good  man  is 
better  than  to  have  entered  into  a  discussion  of  the  mys- 
teries of  godliness." 


MR.    SAMUEL   PHILBRICK. 


The  story  of  the  First  Church,  as  it  was  forty  or  more 
years  ago,  would  hardly  be  complete  without  some  allu- 


270  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

sion  to  incidents  connected  with  the  rise  and  growth  of 
the  anti-slavery  reform  and  the  manner  in  which  some  of 
the  congregation  were  affected  by  it.  Those  who  have 
come  to  mature  years  during  or  since  the  War  of  the  Re- 
bellion can  scarcely  have  any  conception  of  the  difficulties 
through  which  the  people  of  New  England,  and  even  our 
own  vicinity,  were  educated  up  to  the  point  of  willingness 
to  see  slavery  destroyed. 

Mr.  Samuel  Philbrick,  who  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in 
this  reform  at  a  time  when  a  man  must  have  had  in  him 
the  courage  and  the  perseverance  of  a  martyr  to  dare 
identify  himself  with  so  unpopular  a  cause,  was  a  wor- 
shipper at  the  First  Church  for  years. 

He  was  born  and  educated  among  the  Friends  or  Qua- 
kers, but  did  not  identify  himself  with  them  in  later  years, 
though  his  marriage  was  consummated  according  to  the 
peculiar  forms  or  usages  of  that  sect.  Mr.  Philbrick 
never  united  with  the  Unitarian  Church,  as  a  member. 
He  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  influence  and  occupied  a 
central  pew  in  the  church.  He  was  the  friend  of  Gar- 
rison, May,  Phillips,  and  others  of  the  leading  abolition- 
ists of  those  days,  and  his  house  was  one  of  the  way- 
stations  of  "  the  underground  railroad,"  which  here  and 
there  gave  brief  shelter  and  rest  for  fugitives,  on  the  way 
from  Mason  and  Dixon's  line  to  Canada. 

Friend  Isaac  T.  Hopper,  whose  delightful  biography 
by  Mrs.  Child  will  be  read  as  long  as  slavery  is  a  remem- 
bered blot  on  our  history,  was  often  a  visitor  at  Mr.  Phil- 
brick's  house,  and  the  Misses  Grimke  spent  the  winter  of 
1836-37  in  his  family. 

These  ladies,  then  young  and  wealthy,  were  the  daugh- 
ters of  Judge  Grimke  of  South  Carolina.  They  had 
grown  up  in  acquaintance  with  the  abominations  of  the 
slave-power,  and  had  voluntarily  left  their  home  of 


THE  MISSES   GRIMKE.  271 

affluence  to  acquaint  the  people  of  the  North  with  the 
danger  which  was  even  then  threatening  the  nation. 

They  will  be  remembered  by  elderly  people  as  the  first 
ladies  who  spoke  in  public  on  this  subject  in  this  vicinity. 
Their  first  audience  was  composed  of  Brookline  ladies  as- 
sembled in  Mr.  Philbrick's  parlors,  which  were  thrown 
open  for  the  purpose.  It  would  have  been  impossible  in 
the  face  of  the  prejudice  of  the  times,  to  have  obtained 
the  Town  Hall,  or  one  of  the  churches  for  such  a  purpose. 
To  have  attempted  it  might  have  aroused  a  mob. 

The  announcement  of  the  meeting  was  by  cards  of  in- 
vitation sent  to  friends  and  acquaintances.  At  the  ap- 
pointed time  the  apartments  were  filled  with  ladies  only, 
but  in  an  ante-room,  out  of  sight  but  within  hearing,  sat 
John  G.  Whittier,  now  the  beloved  Quaker  poet,  an  in- 
tensely interested  listener.  Whether  his  presence  in  the 
audience  would  have  embarrassed  the  speaker,  or  the  large 
company  of  ladies  would  have  abashed  the  shy  and  sensi- 
tive poet  we  are  not  informed,  but  he  heard  and  went  his 
way  with  new  and  fresh  inspiration  to  write  his  lyrics  of 
liberty. 

During  the  winter  which  the  Misses  Grimke  spent  in 
Mr.  Philbrick's  house,  a  friend  of  the  family  solicited  the 
sympathy  and  help  of  Mrs.  Philbrick  for  a  free  colored 
woman  in  a  neighboring  city  who  was  struggling  to  sup- 
port herself  and  children.  The  result  was  that  a  little 
girl  ten  years  of  age  was  taken  into  the  household  to  be 
made  useful,  and  comfortably  provided  for. 

On  the  following  Sunday  she  was  taken  to  church  with 
the  family  and  seated  in  their  own  pew,  where,  owing  to 
her  small  size,  her  head  did  not  reach  to  the  top  rail. 

Mr.  Philbrick  had  already  incurred  odium  by  identify- 
ing himself  with  the  hated  "  abolitionists,"  and  small  as 
was  the  cause  in  this  instance,  it  was  the  "  fly  in  the  pot 


272  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

of  ointment,"  and  conservative  and  aristocratic  noses  were 
elevated  accordingly. 

Great  was  the  discussion  and  wide-spread  the  excite- 
ment before  another  Sunday,  and  when  the  day  came  it 
was  necessary  for  the  timid  child  to  walk  to  church  be- 
side Mr.  Philbrick's  daughter  that  she  might  be  protected 
from  the  insults  of  the  boys.  Even  the  children  of  the 
family  were  taunted  by  their  school-fellows  with  being 
"  bobolitionists"  and  annoyed  in  various  ways. 

The  family  were  seated  in  their  accustomed  places,  when 
a  member  of  the  society  who  could  not  see  the  child  from 
his  own  pew,  though  he  rose  and  stretched  himself  up  to 
discover  her,  sent  one  of  his  children  down  the  aisle  on 
which  he  sat  and  up  the  other  to  look  into  Mr.  Philbrick's 
pew,  to  ascertain  whether  she  was  actually  there.  To 
his  intense  disgust  he  learned  that'  she  was,  and  rising  he 
summoned  his  whole  family  and  left  the  church. 

Viewed  in  the  light  of  late  events  and  modern  times  it 
seems  too  ridiculous  to  be  true,  and  were  it  a  solitary  in- 
stance of  negro-hatred  it  would  not  be  historical.  But  it 
was  the  public  sentiment  of  the  times  that  was  outraged, 
and  the  whole  society,  not  to  say  all  Brookline,  was  of- 
fended. It  was  a  trying  episode  for  Dr.  Pierce,  whose 
charitable  spirit  never  allowed  him  to  hate  any  human 
being  because  he  was  created  of  a  different  color  or  na- 
tionality from  himself,  and  whose  love  of  peace  could  ill 
endure  a  division  and  a  quarrel  among  his  people.  More- 
over he,  like  many  another  conscientious  man  of  those 
days,  could  see  no  Way  in  which  the  agitation  of  the  slavery 
question  could  be  of  practical  benefit  to  the  slaves,  and 
his  motto  was,  "  When  you  know  not  what  to  do,  be  sure 
not  to  do  you  know  not  what."  Mr.  Philbrick,  the  friend 
of  the  Grimkes  and  Garrison,  and  the  slave,  was  begin- 
ning a  dangerous  agitation  by  bringing  even  a  free  negro 


A   FRIEND   OF  THE   COLORED   RACE.  273 

child  into  the  house  of  God  with  her  friends  and  protec- 
tors. His  course  must  be  met  with  a  remonstrance.  Be- 
fore another  Sunday  came  he  was  waited  upon  by  a  com- 
mittee of  the  society,  and  requested  for  the  sake  of  peace, 
to  send  the  child,  if  he  must  bring  her  to  church,  into 
the  negro  pew. 

This,  Mr.  Philbrick  politely  but  firmly  declined  to  do. 
His  stand  on  the  negro  question  was  taken,  and  he  was 
not  the  man  to  commit  the  egregious  inconsistency  of  not 
living  up  to  it,  nor  to  receive  dictation  as  to  the  occupants 
of  his  pew.  The  little  girl  appeared  at  church  again,  and 
again  the  deeply  exercised  committee  waited  upon  Mr. 
Philbrick,  and  more  stringent  arguments  and  exhorta- 
tions were  brought  to  bear.  The  result  was  that  Mr. 
Philbrick  no  longer  felt  inclined  to  worship  where  what 
he  considered  a  most  unchristian  spirit  was  being  aroused, 
and  he  with  his  family  withdrew  and  never  entered  the 
meeting-house  again,  neither  did  one  gentleman  of  the 
family  who  took  such  great  offense.  The  rest  returned 
to  their  allegiance. 

Mr.  Philbrick  continued  to  befriend  the  colored  race 
whenever  he  could  do  so. 

The  celebrated  William  and  Ellen  Crafts  were  con- 
cealed for  days  in  a  back  chamber  of  that  house  while 
the  United  States  Marshal  and  his  officers  were  hunting 
Boston  for  them.  They  were  first  taken  to  the  Searle 
house  in  Cypress  Street,  where  Hon.  Ellis  Gray  Loring 
was  then  living,  but  it  being  feared  that  suspicion  would 
point  to  that  locality,  they  were  conveyed  secretly  to  Mr. 
Philbrick's,  in  the  evening.  After  the  hunt  and  excite- 
ment in  Boston  had  somewhat  subsided,  the  fugitives  were 
removed  from  Mr.  Philbrick's  house  by  Theodore  Par- 
ker, who  with  another  gentleman  and  a  lady,  came  in  a 
cariage  and  started  them  on  their  way  to  Canada. 


274  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

Mr.  Philbrick  outlived  much  of  the  odium  attached  to 
the  name  of  "  abolitionist,"  and  saw  their  ranks  swelled 
by  thousands  after  the  rendition  of  Anthony  Burns.  He 
died,  however,  in  September,  1859,  before  the  triumph  of 
the  principles  for  which  he  had  sacrificed  convenience  and 
popularity. 

In  less  than  ten  years  from  that  time  his  son  was  super- 
vising the  industries  and  economies  of  the  freedmen  of 
South  Carolina  without  molestation  or  hindrance. 

The  ministry  of  Rev.  Mr.  Knapp,  which  continued  seven 
years,  was  unmarked  by  any  striking  events.  He  was 
much  beloved  as  a  pastor.  He  was  succeeded  by  Rev.  Dr. 
Hedge  in  October,  1856. 

THE   PARSONAGE.  —  POLLY  HATCH. 

We  now  pass  to  the  story  of  the  parsonage.  To  do  so 
we  must  go  back  to  an  early  period  in  the  history  of  the 
town.  The  ground  which  has  for  almost  a  century  been 
the  site  of  the  parsonage,  was  from  the  earliest  dates  till 
about  the  middle  of  the  last  century  the  property  of  the 
Gardners.  It  came  into  possession  of  the  heirs  of  Judge 
Sewall,  and  was  presented  by  Mrs.  Walcott,  as  a  site 
for  the  parsonage  of  the  First  Church  forever.  The 
house,  in  which  Dr.  Pierce  lived  and  died,  was  built  in 
1781.  It  was  first  occupied  by  Rev.  Joseph  Jackson,  who 
lived  in  it  fifteen  years.  Dr.  Pierce  occupied  it  fifty-two 
years.  It  was  refitted  for  Rev.  Mr.  Knapp,  who  lived  in 
it  during  the  whole  of  his  ministry  in  this  place.  The 
new  parsonage  was  built  for  Rev.  Dr.  Hedge,  and  the  old 
one  was  sold  and  removed  to  Chestnut  Place,  where  it  still 
stands. 

Closely  identified  with  the  family  of  Dr.  Pierce,  during 
the  greater  part  of  his  long  ministry,  was  an  humble 
woman,  whose  obscure  life  better  deserves  a  memorial  than 


POLLY  HATCH.  275 

that  of  many  a  titled  princess.  To  tell  her  story  we  must 
antedate  the  settlement  of  the  Pierce  family  in  Brookline. 
In  1790  there  came  to  Northampton,  where  the  Tappan 
family  resided,  a  country  produce  dealer,  from  Becket, 
who  often  supplied  the  people  of  that  town  with  his 
wares.  He  was  in  great  trouble,  having  been  burned  out, 
and  lost  everything  except  his  family  of  a  dozen  children, 
and  he  besought  Mrs.  Tappan  to  take  one  child  and  give 
her  a  home  and  make  *  her  useful.  The  good  lady  con- 
sented, and  the  man  brought  down  with  him  the  next  time 
he  came,  a  little  girl  of  six  years  whose  name  was  Re- 
becca Hatch.  There  was  a  Rebecca  already  in  the 
family,  and  this  child  was  called  Polly. 

She  soon  discovered  a  wonderful  aptitude  for  work,  and 
a  most  grateful  and  affectionate  devotion  to  the  family, 
especially  to  Miss  Lucy,  who  afterwards  became  Mrs. 
Pierce.  The  little  girl  learned  to  make  bread  when  so 
small  that  she  was  obliged  to  stand  upon  a  stool  to 
knead  it. 

When  Miss  Tappan  was  married  and  came  to  Brook- 
line,  as  the  wife  of  Dr.  Pierce,  Polly  came  with  them, 
and  from  that  day,  for  forty  years,  no  work  was  too  hard 
and  no  sacrifice  too  great  for  this  devoted  servant  and 
friend  to  make  for  them  and  theirs.  Dr.  Pierce's  salary, 
as  we  have  said,  was  but  very  small,  and  his  family 
increased  rapidly.  Mrs.  Pierce  had  enough  to  occupy 
her,  with  her  domestic  duties  and  the  cares  always  be- 
longing to  a  clergyman's  wife,  and  Polly  counted  nothing 
toilsome  or  irksome  that  she  could  do  for  the  friends  she 
loved  so  well. 

The  little  economies  she  practiced  to  help  make  the  fam- 
ily income  adequate  were  marvelous. 

Her  wages  were  small,  as  was  common  in  those  days, 
yet  she  laid  up  little  by  little  her  scanty  earnings,  spend- 


276  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

ing  almost  nothing  for  dress,  for  which  she  seemed  to  care 
nothing,  but  wore  whatever  was  given  her  by  friends  in 
the  parish,  and  the  relatives  of  the  family.  She  was 
skilled  in  every  branch  of  household  work,  and  not  only 
did  faithfully  the  washing,  ironing,  cleaning,  and  cooking 
for  the  large  family,  but  for  years  never  slept  without  one 
child  of  the  family  under  her  care,  and  carried  about  a 
sickly  infant  of  the  family  upon  her  hip,  singing  to  it  dur- 
ing her  morning  work.  She  was  not  required  to  do  this, 
but  chose  to  do  it.  At  last  there  came  to  the  family  that 
saddest  of  misfortunes,  a  hopelessly  imbecile  and  helpless 
child.  Then  shone  out  the  beautiful  spirit  of  devoted 
self-sacrifice  which  made  Polly's  life  worthy  to  be  written. 
She  claimed  poor  unfortunate  Benny  as  her  charge,  and 
took  care  of  him  for  four  years  by  night  and  day  with 
untiring  patience  and  love.  The  child  was  then  sent  from 
home  to  board  for  some  years.  At  the  age  of  eighteen 
he  was  taken  home  again  as  helpless  as  ever,  and  Polly 
resumed  her  care  of  him  as  before. 

Yet  she  never  abated  her  energy  in  other  directions, 
but  went  on  with  all  the  household  work,  in  a  manner  that 
made  her  name  a  synonym  for  efficiency,  in  the  parish 
as  well  as  in  the  family,  and  the  idea  that  she  was  equal 
to  almost  any  emergency  was  laughably  illustrated  in  a 
curious  incident. 

When  the  church  was  struck  by  lightning,  August  12, 
1834,  there  was  a  town  meeting  being  held  in  the  old  stone 
Town  House.  A  venerable  gentleman,  who  was  one  of 
the  Selectmen,  ran  down  to  the  parsonage,  calling  out 
"  Polly  !  Polly  !  Polly  ! "  As  if  Polly  could  put  out  a  fire 
on  the  roof  of  the  meeting-house.  The  fire  was  extin- 
guished without  serious  damage. 

The  terrors  of  the  fire  which  deprived  her  of  her  home 
in  her  childhood  so  impressed  her  mind  that  she  never 


POLLY   HATCH.  277 

retired  at  night  till  she  had  seen  the  last  light  extin- 
guished, not  even  trusting  Dr.  Pierce  himself  to  take  care 
of  the  fire  and  lights.  Long  before  the  dawn  of  day  she 
was  at  her  tasks  ;  pleasure-seeking,  in  the  common  accep- 
tation of  the  term,  she  entirely  ignored.  She  was  always 
cheerful,  but  she  found  her  pleasure  in  serving  others.  In 
the  goodness  of  her  heart  she  used  to  go  on  Mondays, 
once  a  month,  to  the  church  and  sweep  it,  before  the  Sun- 
day fires  were  out,  to  assist  Mr.  Stone,  the  sexton,  be- 
cause he  was  poor,  and  had  many  young  children,  and  her 
assistance  would  save  his  time  for  his  business  as  a  car- 
penter. 

Many  a  longed-for  toy,  or  book,  or  pleasure  which  the 
children  of  the  family  would  have  otherwise  been  obliged 
to  forego,  was  purchased  out  of  Polly's  little  store.     All 
these  years  she  had  heard  no  word  from  her  own  rela- 
tives.    They  seemed  to  forget  or  give  her  up  entirely, 
having  moved  out  of  the  State,  and  she  did  not  even  know 
whither  they  went.    Polly  had  several  lovers  in  her  youth, 
plain  though  she  was,  and  quaint  and  antiquated  in  her 
dress  at  all  times.     But  she  met  none  of  their  advances 
with   favor,    her   heart   seeming   to   remain   untouched. 
With  all  her  hard  work  and  plain  appearance,  and  nar- 
row round  of  duties,   Polly  was  not  an  ignorant  woman, 
though  she  had  little  school  education.     But  she  was  cul- 
tivated in  her  taste  for  books,  and  had  an  innate  refine- 
ment which  shrank  from  coarseness  of  any  kind.     Her 
knowledge  of  books  was  acquired  more  by  listening  than 
by  reading,  as  she  delighted  in  having  the  children  of 
the  family  come    to  the   kitchen  and   read   aloud  while 
she  pursued  her  various  avocations.     Often  they  followed 
her  from  room  to  room,  reading  Scott,  or  other  authors 
to  her.    In  this  way  she  learned  and  could  repeat  from 
memory  large  portions  of  "  Marmion,"  "  The  Lady  of  the 


278  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

Lake,"  "  Lord  of  the  Isles,"  the  whole  of  Parnell's  "  Her- 
mit," and  much  of  the  poetry  of  other  authors. 

An  evidence  of  her  remarkable  memory  was  discovered 
in  her  early  youth,  when  she  was  living  with  the  Tappan 
family  at  Northampton.  Mr.  Lucas,  a  Brookline  gentle- 
man, came  to  that  town  with  Dr.  Pierce.  He  was  on  his 
way  to  Deerfield,  and  he  told  the  young  folks  of  the 
Tappan  family  that  if  any  one  of  them  would  commit 
to  memory  the  twenty-sixth  chapter  of  the  book  of  Acts, 
so  as  to  repeat  it  to  him  on  his  return,  verbatim,  he  would 
give  the  successful  one  a  silver  dollar.  All  the  children 
tried,  but  only  Polly  won  the  prize. 

When  some  of  Dr.  Pierce's  daughters  were  in  their 
gay  days  of  youth,  there  was  a  sleighing  party  in  the 
winter,  to  which  they  were  invited  by  young  gentlemen 
from  Cambridge.  After  the  party  had  been  gone  some 
hours,  a  sudden  and  severe  snow-storm  came  on.  It 
proved  to  be  so  formidable  that  the  young  people  started 
for  home,  but  the  snow  blocked  the  roads  so  that  the 
horses  could  scarcely  make  their  way  through  it.  Polly 
sat  up  waiting  their  return  with  fire  and  lights. 

Before  they  came,  the  snow  lay  two  feet  deep  between 
the  front  door  and  the  street.  Twice,  she  went  out  alone 
in  the  dark  and  driving  storm,  and  shoveled  a  path  from 
the  door  to  the  gate.  But  her  benevolence  did  not  stop 
there.  She  knew  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  young 
gentlemen  to  reach  Cambridge  that  night,  and  the  horses 
must  be  taken  care  of.  She  therefore  made  her  way  with 
a  lantern,  to  the  barn,  and  actually  shoveled  away  the 
snow  which  prevented  the  door  from  being  opened,  and 
when  the  young  people  arrived  past  midnight,  chilled 
through,  and  the  exhausted  horses  ready  to  drop,  she 
had  all  things  in  readiness  for  the  "entertainment  of 
man  and  beast,"  took  care  of  them  all  herself,  in  spite 


POLLY'S  SELF-SACRIFICE.  279 

of  every  remonstrance,  and  was  on  the  alert  early  in  the 
morning  as  if  nothing  unusual  had  happened. 

Nothing  ever  seriously  disturbed  or  made  her  unhappy 
but  opposition  in  her  self-sacrifice  for  the  family.  If 
refused,  or  prevented  from  carrying  out  her  purposes  in 
this  respect,  her  quickly  starting  tears  bore  evidence  how 
genuine  was  the  feeling  that  prompted  them. 

Her  practice  of  often  spending  money  for  the  young 
people  of  the  family  was  sometimes  very  embarrassing 
to  them,  but  no  remonstrance  was  of  any  avail.  In  this 
particular  she  would  have  her  own  way.  An  inconven- 
ience always  severely  felt  at  the  parsonage  was  the  want 
of  a  cistern  to  hold  soft  water.  Dr.  Pierce  at  one  time 
went  away  upon  a  journey,  and  during  his  absence,  Polly 
secured  the  cooperation  of  Capt.  Benjamin  Bradley,  who 
was  a  carpenter,  and  before  the  Doctor's  return,  a  cistern 
was  built  for  the  sum  of  fifty  dollars,  and  paid  for  out 
of  Polly's  money.  When  the  Doctor  came  home,  and 
learned  what  had  been  done,  he  insisted  upon  paying 
Polly  for  the  outlay  at  once.  But  she  burst  into  tears, 
insisted  that  she  had  had  it  done  for  her  own  convenience, 
and  a  pleasant  surprise  to  him,  and  that  it  would  break 
her  heart  if  he  insisted  upon  it  further.  The  matter 
was  allowed  to  drop,  but  a  long  time  afterwards  the  Doc- 
tor found  an  opportunity  of  making  it  up  to  her. 

At  the  marriage  of  each  of  Dr.  Pierce's  children,  a 
present  was  bestowed  upon  the  bride  by  Polly,  quite 
equal  to  the  gifts  of  other  friends,  in  those  times.  At 
the  birth  of  each  grandchild,  till  there  were  ten,  she 
deposited  in  the  bank  five  dollars  for  the  new  comer. 
This  practice  Dr.  Pierce  positively  forbade,  but  it  was 
vain  to  try  to  prevent  the  devoted  creature  from  im- 
poverishing herself  for  others. 

At  one  time  when  a  poor  divinity  student,  who  had 


280  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

been  often  to  see  the  Doctor,  was  leaving  the  house,  the 
Doctor  inquired  why  he  wore  no  overcoat  on  so  cold  a 
day.  He  confessed  that  he  had  none.  Polly  overheard 
the  conversation.  Shortly  afterwards,  the  young  man 
received  a  present  of  a  new  overcoat.  It  was  Polly's 
gift,  but  the  recipient  never  knew  whence  it  came,  and 
even  the  family  were  not  aware  of  this  act  of  generosity 
for  many  years.  It  was  finally  disclosed  by  the  person 
whom  she  deputed  to  make  the  purchase. 

In  1830,  when  Polly  had  lived  in  the  family  of  Dr. 
Pierce  nearly  thirty  years,  a  person  from  a  neighboring 
town,  who  had  been  on  a  trip  to  western  New  York, 
called  to  see  Dr.  Pierce,  to  inquire  respecting  her.  He 
had  met  with  a  brother  of  hers,  who  finding  that  he  was 
from  the  vicinity  of  Boston,  made  inquiries  respecting 
"  Rev.  Mr.  Pierce,"  who  had  taken  Polly  from  Northamp- 
ton. It  was  over  twenty  years  since  she  had  known 
whether  she  had  a  relative  living.  It  was  washing-day, 
and  Polly  stood  at  the  tub,  when  the  Doctor  announced 
the  startling  news  that  she  had  two  brothers  and  a  sister 
living,  and  that  they  had  taken  the  trouble  to  inquire 
respecting  her.  Polly  was  like  one  thunderstruck.  She 
stood  in  silence  for  a  moment,  and  then  fell  senseless 
upon  the  floor.  It  was  some  time  before  consciousness 
returned,  and  the  manner  in  which  she  was  affected  was 
the  more  remarkable,  from  the  fact  that  she  was  never 
known  to  faint  before.  Nothing  would  satisfy  her  but 
she  must  go  and  see  her  kindred,  wholly  forgetful  of 
their  long  indifference  to  her.  Her  visits  had  been  con- 
fined to  annual  trips  to  Boston  all  those  many  years,  but 
nothing  daunted,  she  set  out  on  her  journey,  found  her 
people,  made  them  a  four  weeks'  visit,  and  then  returned 
to  the  parsonage. 

A  few  years  after,  Polly  asked  leave  of  absence  for  a 


POLLY   HATCH   LEAVES   THE    PARSONAGE.  281 

whole  year.  This  was  granted,  and  she  went  to  her 
friends,  and  devoted  herself  to  their  interests  with  her 
time  and  money. 

At  the  expiration  of  that  time  she  returned.  Polly 
had  scarcely  ever  had  a  letter  in  her  lifetime,  but  now 
letters  began  to  come,  regularly  and  often,  so  that  one 
day  the  Doctor  returning  from  the  post-office  with  a  let- 
ter, said  jokingly,  as  he  delivered  it,  "  What  is  the  mat- 
ter, Polly  ?  Are  you  engaged  ?  "  "  Yes  sir,"  said  Polly, 
meekly,  and  burst  into  tears. 

Had  the  earth  opened  in  front  of  the  parsonage,  the 
astonishment,  would  scarcely  have  been  greater.  Polly, 
almost  fifty-nine  years  of  age,  and  as  much  identified 
with  the  parsonage  as  one  of  the  rafters,  about  to  launch 
her  fortunes  on  the  uncertain  sea  of  matrimony  ! 

It  is  doubtful  if  any  engagement  since  then  has  created 
a  greater  sensation  in  the  little  circle  concerned. 

A  lonely  widower,  a  New  York  Dutchman,  by  the  name 
of  Schermerhorn,  had  found  the  way  to  Polly's  sympa- 
thies, he  was  uso  lonesome  and  she  pitied  him  so;  "  yet 
warmly  as  her  heart  went  out  toward  him,  there  was  a 
link  at  the  old  parsonage  that  must  not  be  broken. 

There  was  poor  Benny,  and  the  infatuated  lover  could 
not  have  Polly  without  he  would  take  Benny  also,  if  the 
pastor's  family  would  consent  to  let  him  go. 

The  terms  for  his  board  were  agreed  upon,  satisfacr 
torily  to  all  parties.  It  was  a  service  such  as  money 
could  not  buy,  and  only  pure  love  could  suggest,  and  as 
such  it  was  appreciated  by  the  family.  The  difficulty  of 
removing  him  was  less  than  might  be  supposed,  as  he 
had  never  grown  beyond  the  size  of  a  delicate  child 
of  twelve  years.  Polly's  lover  was  about  seventy  years 
of  age,  and  too  feeble  to  make  the  long  journey  to  take 
his  bride  ;  and  it  was  arranged  that  her  nephew  should 

19 


282  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

come  on  and  take  her  and  her  helpless  charge  to  their 
destination. 

Polly  had  to  undergo  some  bantering  respecting  the 
arrangement  of  going  to  her  lover,  instead  of  being  car- 
ried thither  as  a  bride  by  himself,  but  her  serenity  could 
not  be  disturbed,  and- she  made  her  preparations,  and 
bade  farewell  to  Brookline  and  the  parsonage  forever. 

She  was  married  in  her  husband's  own  house,  October 
1,  1843.  When  she  had  been  married  a  year,  she  wrote 
her  old  friends,  that  she  was  "  more  troubled  by  the  bad 
grammar  spoken  by  the  people  around  her  than  by  any- 
thing else."  Trouble  of  that  nature  would  be  as  light 
as  one  could  reasonably  expect  in  this  life,  it  would  seem. 

From  that  time  forward,  Polly  was  visited  once  a  year 
oy  one  or  more  of  Dr.  Pierce's  family,  greatly  to  her 
delight.  Her  devotion  to  poor  Benny  continued  unre- 
mitting, and  her  husband  —  who  seemed  so  adapted  to 
Polly's  own  heart,  that  one  could  well  apply  to  them  the 
adage,  respecting  the  celestial  origin  of  matches  —  was 
as  kind  to  him  as  she  could  desire. 

After  six  years,  when  Benny  was  thirty-two  years  of 
age,  he  was  found  one  morning,  dead  in  his  bed,  having 
given  no  signs  of  illness.  The  same  Providence  which 
had  mysteriously  darkened  his  intellect,  and  made  his 
earthly  life  a  blank,  had  doubtless  wakened  him  to  the 
full  joys  of  a  complete  existence ;  for  if  He  careth  for 
the  sparrows  when  they  fall,  surely  He  careth  for  such. 

Mr.  Schermerhorn  was  a  Methodist,  and  held  daily 
family  worship.  It  was  his  practice  to  sing  a  long  hymn 
after  reading  the  Scriptures.  Polly  could  not  sing  a  note, 
but  she  sat  beside  her  old  husband,  who  held  her  hand 
in  his,  and  gazed  up  in  his  face  with  a  love  and  reverence 
that  redeemed  the  situation  from  ludicrousness,  and  might 
have  gone  far  toward  convincing  youthful  skepticism, 


POLLY'S  DEATH  AND  EPITAPH.  283 

that  the  heart  never  grows  old.  Thus  they  lived  for 
twenty  years,  and  then  the  tie  which  had  united  this 
peculiar  pair  was  broken  by  the  death  of  the  wife.  Polly 
died  of  congestion  of  the  lungs,  in  December,  1863,  the 
same  disease  of  which  Mrs.  Pierce,  after  years  of  serene 
and  beautiful  old  age,  had  died  not  long  before. 

Her  life  had  been  one  long,  devoted  service  to  others. 
Those  who  disbelieve  in  pure,  unselfish  love,  and  deny 
the  existence  of  disinterested  benevolence,  may  make 
what  they  can  of  the  simple,  unvarnished  story  of  Polly's 
life. 

One  cannot  but  wonder  how  such  a  nature  could  be 
happy  in  heaven  with  no  misery  there  to  alleviate,  no 
sorrow  with  which  to  sympathize,  and  no  laborious  ser- 
vices to  perform. 

Three  years  later  the  widower  followed  the  partner 
for  whom  he  sincerely  mourned,  and  a  memorial  stone 
marks  the  last  resting-place  of  Polly  and  her  husband, 
and  poor  Benny. 

The  one  text  for  an  epitaph,  fitting  for  her  memory, 
suggested  itself  to  the  minds  of  her  old  friends  at  the 
parsonage,  and  was  inscribed  upon  the  stone :  "  Many 
daughters  have  done  virtuously,  but  thou  excellest  them 
all." 


284  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE    GARDNER     FAMILY   AND    HOUSES.  —  THE    BOYLSTON,    OR 

HYSLOP  PLACE  (COLONEL    LEE's). THE  ACKERS  PLACE. 

OLD    INDIAN    BURIAL    PLACE. 

HPHE  ancient  Gardners  of  Brookline  were  large  land- 
-*-  owners,  and  once  formed  no  inconsiderable  part  of  the 
population.  As  they  were  chiefly  gathered  near  the 
church  and  parsonage,  though  some  branches  of  the  fam- 
ily settled  further  off,  perhaps  this  is  the  proper  place  to 
introduce  them. 

The  early  inhabitants  of  Brookline  were  recorded  on 
the  documents  of  the  town  of  Roxbury  as  often  or  oftener 
than  on  those  of  Boston.  The  Gardners  are  traceable,  in 
births,  marriages,  and  deaths,  on  the  Roxbury  records. 
The  name  of  Thomas  occurs  earliest  and  oftenest,  like 
Robert  among  the  Sharps,  Ebenezer  among  the  Davises, 
and  Samuel,  among  the  Clarks. 

The  first  Thomas  Gardner  died  in  1639,  being  "  an 
householder."  He  of  course  was  an  Englishman,  and 
from  the  records  it  would  seem  that  he  was  the  head  of 
the  large  and  wide-spread  family  which  bears  his  name. 

The  second  Thomas  Gardner,  son  of  the  above,  was 
also  born  in  England.  He  married  Lucy  Smith  of  Rox- 
bury in  1641,  and  settled  in  Brookline.  He  was  a  mem- 
ber of  the  Roxbury  Church  in  1650,  and  paid  an  annual 
tax  of  thirteen  shillings  for  the  support  of  a  Roxbury 
school.  This  was  probably  kept  in  the  ancient  school- 
house  which  formerly  stood  where  the  gas-works  now  are, 
as  that  part  of  Brookline  was  then  in  Roxbury.  This 


THE    GARDNER   FAMILY.  285 

man  being  the  father  of  eight  children,  would  doubtless 
take  an  interest  in  the  support  of  the  school.  No  school 
was  then  kept  in  Muddy  River. 

In  1672,  when  the  people  of  Roxbury  decided  to  build 
"  a  nue  Metting-hous,"  and  permit  the  people  of  "  Mudi- 
river  "  to  share  in  its  privileges  if  they  would  bear  one 
fifth  of  the  expense,  we  find  the  list  of  Brookline  tax- 
payers for  this  object  headed  by  Thomas  Gardner,  who 
paid  ten  pounds,  that  being  the  largest  amount  paid  by 
any  man  in  the  place.  The  amount  raised  was  £104  13s. 
His  brother  Andrew  paid  five  pounds. 

Thomas  Gardner  died  in  1689.  He  left  a  will  provid- 
ing for  his  sons  Thomas  and  Joshua,  and  his  four  daugh- 
ters who  survived.  His  daughter  Mary  had  married 
Thomas  Boylston,  one  of  the  earliest  of  an  old  Brookline 
family.  The  school  mentioned  above  was  kept  by  An- 
drew Gardner,  probably  a  nephew  of  Thomas,  in  1698. 

Andrew  Gardner's  son  Andrew,  was  a  preacher  in  Lan- 
caster in  1696.  He  was  accidentally  shot  by  a  soldier  in 
that  town  in  1704.  The  account  given  in  the  "Boston 
News  Letter,"  is  as  follows  :  — 

"  Boston.  In  our  Number  28,  as  we  then  received  it,  we  gave 
you  the  account  of  the  Death  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gardner,  Minister 
of  Lancaster ;  and  having  since  had  a  perfect  and  exact  account 
of  the  same  from  Eye  and  Ear  witnesses ;  we  thought  it  expe- 
dient to  insert  it  here,  to  prevent  various  reports  thereof.  And 
is  as  follows  :  — 

"  That  a  man  being  killed  the  day  before,  between  Groton 
and  Lancaster,  and  the  Indians  being  seen  the  night  before  nigh 
the  town,  Mr.  Gardner,  (three  of  the  men  belonging  to  his 
Garrison  being  gone  out  of  Town,  and  two  of  the  remaining 
three  being  tyred  with  Watching  and  Travelling  in  the  Woods 
after  the  Indians  that  day),  being  a  very  careful  as  well  as 
courageous  man,  concluded  to  watch  that  night  himself;  and  ac- 


286  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

cordingly  went  out  into  the  little  watch-house  that  was  over  the 
Flankers,  and  there  stayed  till  late  in  the  night,  whence  and  when 
he  was  coming  down  (as  it  was  thought)  to  warm  him.  The 
man  that  shot  him,  who  was  not  long  before  sleeping  by  the  fire, 
came  out  and  whether  between  sleeping  and  waking,  or  sur- 
prised with  an  excess  of  fear,  fired  upon  him  as  he  was  coming 
down  out  of  the  watch-house  through  a  little  trap-door  into  the 
Flanker,  where  no  man  having  the  exercise  of  his  Reason  could 
suspect  the  coming  of  an  enemy,  or  suspect  him  to  be  so  when 
in  a  clear  Moonlight  he  was  so  nigh  him. 

"  Mr.  Gardner  (though  his  wound  was  in  his  Breast  being 
shot  through  the  vitals),  came  to  the  door,  bid  them  open  it  for 
he  was  wounded  ;  after  he  came  in  he  fainted  away,  but  coming 
to  himself  again,  asked  who  it  was  that  shot  him,  and  when  they 
told  him  he  prayed  God  to  forgive  him,  and  forgave  him  himself, 
for  he  believed  he  did  not  do  it  on  purpose ;  and  with  a  com- 
posed Christian  frame  of  spirit,  desired  them  that  were  bitterly 
lamenting  over  him  not  to  weep  but  to  pray  for  him,  and  com- 
forted his  sorrowful  wife,  telling  her  he  was  going  to  Glory,  ad- 
vising her  to  follow  him  ;  and  in  about  an  hour  Dyed,  leaving  his 
sorrowful  friends  to  lament  the  loss  of  so  worthy  and  desirable 
a  person."  * 

Thomas,  another  of  the  sons  of  the  first  Andrew,  was  a 
captain  in  the  Canada  expedition,  under  Sir  William 
Phipps,  in  1690,  in  which  he  lost  his  life,  as  did  Robert 
Sharp,  and  other  Brookline  men. 

The  third  Andrew  Gardner  born  in  this  town  was  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  College,  in  1712,  and  was  ordained 
minister  of  Worcester  in  1719.  He  was  subsequently 
settled  in  Lunenburg,  but  after  his  removal  from  that 
town  in  1732  we  lose  trace  of  him. 

Peter  Gardner,  brother  of  the  second  Thomas,  was  also 
a  resident  of  this  town,  and  had  a  large  family  of  children. 
His  son  Samuel  was  killed  by  the  Indians  when  nineteen 
years  of  age. 

.   *  Botton  News  Letter,  No.  31,  November  20,  1704. 


BURNING   OF   JOSHUA   GARDNER'S  HOUSE.  287 

There  was  also  a  Thomas,  but  the  third  Thomas  in  the 
regular  line  of  succession,  born  in  1676,  bore  a  more  prom- 
inent part  in  the  affairs  of  the  town,  and  was  chosen  first 
deacon  of  the  First  Church.  Of  him  we  have  more  to 
say  hereafter. 

Joshua  Gardner,  his  brother,  married  Mary,  daughter 
of  John  Weld  of  Roxbury,  in  1681.  His  house  stood  a 
little  east  of  the  present  parsonage  on  ground  now  belong- 
ing to  Mr.  Kennard.  This  house  of  Mr.  Joshua  Gard- 
ner, according  to  Judge  Sewall's  journal,  was  burnt  on 
the  night  of  Sunday,  January  11,  1691,  and  two  of  his 
children  perished  in  the  flames.  What  a  glimpse  of  do- 
mestic vicissitude  in  those  early  days  this  incident  thus 
barely  and  briefly  mentioned,  opens  to  the  imagination. 
How  did  the  fire  originate  ?  Where  were  the  parents  ? 
Who  came  to  help,  on  seeing  the  red  light  of  the  flames 
above  the  thick  woods,  for  there  was  neither  bell,  nor  en- 
gine, nor  means  of  relief —  and  why  were  the  little  ones 
not  saved,  curiosity  asks  in  vain.  Nearly  a  year  later, 
the  Judge  enters  in  his  journal  the  following,  under  date 
of  December  21 :  — 

"  Went  with  Mr.  Addington  and  wife  to  the  new  house  of 
Joshua  Gardner,  where  were  Mr.  Walter  and  wife,  Mr.  Denni- 
son  and  wife,  Sir  Haggles  and  Mrs.  Weld.  At  dinner  Mr. 
Walter  asked  the  blessing,  and  Mr.  De.nnison  returned  thanks 
on  account  of  completing  their  new  house." 

This  Mr.  Walter  was  the  Rev.  Nehemiah  Walter,  then 
minister  of  the  church  on  Roxbury  Hill.  Sir  Ruggles 
Weld  was  doubtless  Mrs.  Gardner's  uncle.  In  this  house 
lived  afterwards  the  Caleb  Gardner  who  gave  the  land 
for  the  First  Church. 

It  was  a  little  singular  that  when  Brookline  was  thinly 
inhabited,  and  fire  by  no  means  a  common  occurrence, 


288  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

three  different  dwelling-houses  owned  and  occupied,  by 
the  Gardners  should  have  been  burned.  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Gardner,  a  son  of  the  deacon  previously  mentioned,  was  a 
merchant  in  Boston,  and  lived  in  a  house  on  the  spot  now 
occupied  by  the  house  of  Mr.  Chapin  opposite  the  Reser- 
voir. The  Boston  "  News-Letter  "  of  April  17,  1740,  con- 
tains the  following :  — 

"Last  Monday,  A.  M.  14  April  1740,  the  house  of  Nathaniel 
Gardner  of  Brookline,  next  to  the  Meeting-house  in  that  town 
took  fire  and  was  burned  down,  but  most  of  the  household  goods 
saved.  It  was  occasioned  by  a  chimney's  being  on  fire,  the 
sparks  falling  on  the  roof  catched  in  the  shingles,  which  being 
very  dry  burnt  so  violently,  as  'twas  impossible  to  put  a  stop 
thereto." 

The  third  Gardner  house  which  was  burnt  was  that  of 
Isaac  Gardner  in  Brighton  Street,  of  which  an  account 
was  given  in  the  account  of  that  street.  He  was  a 
grandson  of  Deacon  Thomas  Gardner. 

We  now  return  to  Deacon  Thomas  Gardner,  also  called 
Lieutenant  (probably  in  the  Indian  wars).  His  name 
is  one  of  the  first  on  the  petition  for  a  separation  of  this 
town  from  Boston.  He  was  evidently  a  man  of  property 
and  much  influence.  He  married  Mary  Bowles,  daughter 
of  Elder  John  Bowles,  and  had  seven  children.  In  1718 
he  built  the  old  house  now  owned  by  the  Goddard  heirs, 
and  occupied  by  George  W.  Stearns.  His  three  sons, 
Solomon,  Caleb,  and  Benjamin  successively  owned  and 
occupied  it  after  him.  Benjamin  was  succeeded  in  it  by 
his  son  Deacon  Elisha  Gardner,  who  however  sold  the 
place  to  Mr.  John  Goddard,  and  removed  to  the  old  Wai- 
ley  house,  —  it  was  new  then,  however,  —  where  he  spent 
the  rest  of  his  days,  and  died  in  1797.  Captain  Benja- 
min Gardner  having  left  the  house  above  mentioned,  to 


THE   GARDNER   FAMILY.  289 

his  son,  built  a  house  for  himself  early  in  the  last  century, 
on  Heath  Street,  almost  to  Newton  line,  next  the  house 
known  as  the  old  Richards  Tavern.  He  died  in  1762, 
leaving  the  house  to  his  son  Samuel,  who,  however,  died 
about  ten  years  afterwards  at  the  age  of  forty-three.  His 
son  Caleb,  then  only  sixteen  years  of  age,  was  the  next 
heir.  The  Revolutionary  War  was  coming  on,  and  the 
boy,  too  young  to  bear  arms,  but  too  old  to  submit  to  stay 
peacefully  at  home  in  those  exciting  days,  went  as  attend- 
ant upon  General  Wesson,  and  followed  his  fortunes  dur- 
ing the  various  campaigns  in  which  he  engaged.  After 
the  war  was  over  he  returned,  married  Mary  Jackson  of 
Newton,  and  settled  upon  the  old  place.  He  died  in 
1807,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two.  His  widow  lived  to  be 
ninety-two.  Of  his  six  children,  the  wife  of  Deacon 
Timothy  Corey  was  one,  and  two  of  the  other  daughters 
are  still  living  in  this  town.  His  son  Samuel  Jackson 
Gardner  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  class  of 
1807,  having,  after  such  advantages  as  the  Brookline 
schools  could  give,  been  fitted  for  college  at  Leicester 
Academy.  He  made  the  law  his  profession,  and  for 
twenty  years  did  a  prosperous  business  in  Roxbury,  which 
town  he  represented  in  the  Legislature.  He  subsequently 
removed  to  Newark,  N.  J.,  where  he  became  editor  of  the 
"  Newark  Daily  Advertiser."  He  was  an  old  Whig,  a 
Unitarian  of  the  Charming  school,  and  possessed  a  mind 
peculiarly  adapted  to  the  pursuits  of  literature.  Genial, 
witty,  and  versatile,  he  won  hosts  of  friends.  He  died 
while  on  a  visit  to  the  White  Mountains,  in  July,  1864, 
aged  seventy-six,  and  was  brought  to  Brookline,  and  laid 
in  the  Gardner  tornb. 

His  son,  Dr.  Augustus  Gardner,  still  living  in  New 
York,  is  the  last  male  descendant  of  this  line  of  the  old 
Gardner  family.  He  is  known  as  the  author  of  several 


290  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

books,  on  various  subjects,  among  which  is  a  treatise  on 
*'  Copper,"  also  a  book  of  foreign  travel,  entitled  "  New 
Wine  in  Old  Bottles." 

The  ancient  house  of  Capt.  Benjamin  Gardner,  still 
standing  on  Heath  Street,  is  shaded  by  a  grand  old  elm, 
which  was  set  out  and  protected  by  the  Gardners  of  the 
last  century. 

The  ancient  house  in  which  Deacon  Thomas  Gardner 
lived  in  his  last  days,  and  where  he  died,  was  sold  as 
above  mentioned,  by  his  grandson,  Deacon  Elisha  Gard- 
ner, to  Mr.  John  Goddard,  the  father  of  the  late  Ben- 
jamin Goddard,  and  has  ever  since  been  in  that  family. 

The  land  which  originally  belonged  to  Caleb  Gardner, 
after  his  father's  death,  and  was  attached  to  the  house 
now  occupied  by  George  W.  Ste'arns,  included  all  the 
Goddard  lands,  and  Bradley's  Hill  (before  Mr.  Walley's 
time),  extending  northward  to  the  brook,  and  eastward 
to  Cypress  Street,  as  when  Cypress  Street  was  laid  out 
it  was  ordered,  that  it  should  run  "  through  the  land  of 
Thomas  Cotton,  and  thence  through  the  land  belonging 
to  Caleb  Gardner. 

As  Boylston  Street  was  not  laid  out  till  within  the 
present  century,  the  old  Gardner  house,  standing  just  at 
the  curve  of  the  old  Sherburne  road,  had  only  green  fields 
and  thick  woods  lying  about  it,  there  being  no  other 
house  in  sight,  except  Nathaniel  Gardner's  house,  —  on 
the  site  of  the  present  residence  of  Mr.  Chapin. 

Deacon  Gardner  built  his  house  for  two  centuries  at 
least,  judging  from  the  substantial  work  he  put  into  it. 
There  is  very  little  cellar  room,  for  the  good  reason 
that  nearly  all  that  might  have  been  cellar  is  chimney- 
work.  The  three  stacks  of  chimneys  contain  bricks 
enough  for  a  moderate-sized  modern  house.  The  walls 
of  the  house  are  laid  in  large  coarse  brick,  plastered  with 


DEACON  GARDNER'S  HOUSE.  291 

clay,  between  the  outside  and  inside,  to  the  very  roof. 
The  immense  timbers  are  of  solid  oak,  as  are  also  the 
floors.  The  rooms  are  sheathed  with  paneled  wood- 
work, presenting  a  painted  surface,  which  might  well 
dismay  a  modern  housekeeper.  The  doors  are  braced 
with  long  and  strong  iron  hinges,  reaching  half  across 
their  width,  and  some  of  them  were  opened  by  great 
Avooden  latches  which  lifted  by  a  string,  one  of  which 
remains  till  the  present  time.  Closets  of  all  sorts  in 
most  unexpected  places,  were  planned  for  the  good 
housewife's  convenience.  Each  of  the  front  rooms  had 
a  recess,  closed  up  with  doors  of  paneled  wood-work, 
concealing  a  bed  turned  up  against  the  wall.  A  deep 
window  seat  was  also  provided  with  a  cover  to  lift,  dis- 
closing a  box  or  chest ;  the  fire-place  in  this  room  is  sur- 
rounded by  blue  and  white  Dutch  tiles,  covered  with  the 
most  grotesque  illustrations  of  Scripture  history.  Nearly 
all  are  perfectly  intelligible,  but  in  a  few  the  "  high 
art,"  baffles  modern  ingenuity  to  explain.  The  L  on  the 
north  side  was  at  first  but  one  story  high,  and  a  second 
story  window  in  the  main  house,  which  looked  in  that 
direction,  was  of  diamond  panes  in  leaden  sash,  evidently 
brought  from  England,  as  the  house  was  built  long  be- 
fore glass  was  made  in  this  country,  —  this  window  is  now 
closed  up.  Trap-doors  in  the  floors,  in  the  second  story, 
indicate  the  method  of  "  getting  up  stairs,"  before  stairs 
were  built.  After  the  present  occupants  had  lived  twenty- 
one  years  in  the  house,  a  secret  room  in  the  second  story 
was  discovered.  It  was  perfectly  dark,  and  only  acces- 
sible by  a  ladder,  after  removing  a  sliding  board.  No 
time  was  lost  in  exploring  the  unknown  apartment,  but 
nothing  was  found  except  an  ancient  sword,  bearing  a 
device,  which  might  be  explained  by  one  who  under- 
stands heraldry.  It  may  have  been  the  coat-of-arms  of 


292  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

the  old  English  Gardners.  This  room  had  been  used  by 
former  occupants  of  the  house  as  a  place  for  secreting 
valuables,  but  had  been  forgotten,  or  never  mentioned, 
so  that  its  discovery  by  the  present  occupants  was  a 
complete  surprise.  Further  investigation  during  the  prog- 
ress of  some  alterations,  which  were  being  made  for 
convenience'  sake,  resulted  in  the  exhuming  of  an  old 
cannon  ball,  from  between  the  chimney  and  the  beams, 
where  it  had  lain  for  perhaps  a  century.  Samuel  Park- 
man  was  a  resident  of  this  house  for  several  years.  Hon. 
Jonathan  Mason  made  it  his  country  seat  for  several 
summers.  These  residents  hired  it  of  the  late  Benjamin 
Goddard.  Scores  of  people  have  been  born  under  this 
humble  roof,  and  very  many  have  been  carried  out 
through  its  doorway  to  their  last  narrow  house.  Per- 
haps none  of  these  thus  indicated,  have  brought  more 
honor  to  an  humble  home  than  George  Theodore  Stearns, 
the  eldest  son  of  the  present  tenant,  who  went  at  his 
country's  summons  to  defend  the  imperiled  government 
in  the  late  Rebellion.  Opposed  in  taste  and  principles 
to  war  and  fighting,  he  did  not  volunteer,  but  when 
drafted,  no  persuasion  could  induce  him  to  send  a  substi- 
tute, "  because,"  he  said,  "  he  would  peril  no  other  man's 
life  to  save  his  own,  if  his  country  needed  his  services." 
He  went  like  a  hero,  and  like  a  hero  fell,  in  the  blood 
and  fire  of  the  Wilderness.  He  was  carried  from  the 
scene  of  carnage  to  a  Washington  hospital,  where  he 
lingered  a  little  while,  and  then  passed  on  to  his  reward, 
as  truly  a  martyr  for  conscience'  sake,  as  a  Reformer 
burned  at  the  stake. 

The  gambrel-roofed  house,  opposite  the  Reservoir,  now 
occupied  by  Mr.  Chapin,  was  built  in  1740,  by  Nathan- 
iel Gardner,  the  same  year  that  his  first  house  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  It  was  afterwards  owned  by  Deacon 


"  MANDAMUS   COUNSELOR."  293 

Benjamin  White,  who  was  contemporary  with  Thomas 
Gardner  in  the  office  of  deacon  of  the  First  Church. 

The  next  owner  was  Jeremiah  Gridley,  Esq.,  a  grad- 
uate of  Harvard  University  in  1725.  He  was  a  lawyer 
of  note,  so  much  so  that  President  J.  Q.  Adams  spoke 
of  him  as  among  the  most  distinguished  in  his  profession. 
He  several  times  represented  the  town  in  the  State  Legis- 
lature, and  held  various  other  offices  of  trust  and  impor- 
tance in  the  town.  He  lived  a  single  life,  and  died  in  the 
house  of  which  we  are  writing,  in  1767,  at  the  age  of 
sixty-five.  Dr.  Pierce  quotes  Rev.  Dr.'  Elliott,  author 
of  "  New  England  Biography,"  as  saying,  "  that  his 
legal  knowledge  was  unquestionable  ;  "  but  adds,  "  he 
died  poor  because  he  despised  wealth." 

The  next  person  who  inhabited  the  house  was  Henry 
Hulton,  Mandamus  Counselor  for  the  British  Govern- 
ment. He  was  one  of  the  five  commissioners  appointed 
by  Parliament  to  receive  the  revenue  derived  from  the 
odious  stamp  act,  and  the  tax  on  tea,  paints,  etc.  He 
arrived  in  Boston,  "  clothed  with  a  little  brief  authority," 
in  November,  1767.  He  purchased  the  house  in  ques- 
tion for  his  country-seat,  and  spent  his  summers  here, 
and  his  winters  in  Boston. 

Parties  of  British  officers  often  rode  out  to  his  house  — 
and  their  visits  kept  the  people  of  Brookline  in  a  constant 
state  of  irritation.  As  one  after  another  of  the  hated 
acts  were  passed,  and  the  spirit  of  rebellion  burned  deeper 
in  the  hearts  of  the  people,  the  "  Mandamus  Coun- 
selor," who  was  quietly  pocketing  their  money  for  King 
George,  grew  more  and  more  distasteful,  till  finally  the 
boys  of  Brookline  assembled  and  smashed  his  windows. 
The  father  of  the  late  Charles  Heath  was  one  of  the  par- 
ty. One  can  imagine  the  gusto  with  which  they  did  it, 
and  the  satisfaction  they  felt  going  home.  Very  likely 


294  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

they  were  wholesomely  reproved  by  their  parents  for  an 
act  which  so  far  as  it  went  was  the  outgrowth  of  the  same 
spirit  which  marshalled  their  fathers  on  Lexington  Green 
a  few  months  later. 

Counselor  Hulton  subsequently  took  up  his  quarters 
in  Boston  till  the  Colonists  made  that  place  too  hot  for 
him,  and  then  he  returned  to  England,  and  his  Brookline 
property  was  forfeited  to  the  government,  he  being  a  ref- 
ugee. Two  or  three  other  owners,  of  no  special  note, 
followed,  each  occupying  the  place  but  a  short  time,  and 
then  it  was  for  several  years  owned  by  William  Hyslop,  a 
wealthy  gentleman.  His  estate  included  land  afterwards 
owned  by  the  Murdocks  on  Warren  Street,  and  now  a 
part  of  the  grounds  of  Ignatius  Sargent,  Esq.  He  gave 
to  the  town  the  triangular  piece  of  ground  in  the  fork  of 
the  roads,  west  of  the  church,  for  a  site  for  the  old  brick 
school-house  in  1793. 

Next  came  John  Carnes,  who  owned  the  land  on  the 
hill  in  the  rear  of  the  Unitarian  Church,  and  of  him  the 
society  purchased  the  building  lot  in  1805. 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Partridge,  a  wealthy  widow,  was  the 
next  occupant,  and  then  came  Thomas  Sumner,  Esq.,  who 
lived  there  many  years,  and  ended  his  days  under  its  roof. 
He  was  one  of  the  Selectmen  of  Boston  when  Boston  was 
a  town.  He  used  to  relate  an  incident  which  occurred 
when  he  held  that  office,  when  at  the  March  meeting  one 
after  another  left,  till  only  twenty  men  remained.  The 
annual  appropriations  had  been  left  till  the  last  article, 
and  this  important  business  for  the  great  town  was  dis- 
posed of  by  these  twenty. 

The  results  might  have  been  startling  under  some  cir- 
cumstances, but  we  do  not  know  that  any  harm  arose 
from  it. 

Mr.  Sumner's  land  extended  as  far  as  where  the  parson- 


THE   BOWDITCH   PLACE.  295 

age  land  begins,  on  Walnut  Street.  It  was  well  supplied 
with  fruit  trees,  and  the  kindly  disposed  old  gentleman 
gained  popularity  with  the  boys  of  the  stone  school-house 
and  protected  his  fruit,  by  appropriating  a  sweet  apple  tree, 
and  two  or  three  cherry  trees  exclusively  to  their  use. 

He  took  delight  in  seeing  a  tree  full  of  boys  shouting 
with  pleasure,  as  they  availed  themselves  of  his  generos- 
ity, and  neither  bored  them  with  lectures  on  the  dangers 
of  climbing,  nor  cautioned  them  about  breaking  the  limbs 
of  the  trees,  but  gave  them  the  unchecked  freedom  of  the 
trees.  The  boy  would  have  been  tabooed  by  his  school- 
fellows who  could  have  been  mean  enough  to  touch  other 
than  the  tree  thus  generously  assigned  them. 

Mr.  Sumner  occasionally  appeared  on  the  great  rock 
next  the  sidewalk,  nearly  opposite  the  school-house,  with 
pockets  laden  with  apples  which  he  tossed  among  the  boys 
to  see  them  scramble  for  them. 

His  white  locks  and  affable  manners  will  always  be 
kindly  remembered  by  the  boys  whom  he  thus  propitiated, 
as  well  as  by  many  others. 

NEIGHBORHOOD  OF  THE  RESERVOIR,  THE  BOYLSTON 

PLACE. 

On  the  site  of  the  present  residence  of  Mrs.  Bowditch, 
near  the  Reservoir,  formerly  stood  a  large  house,  owned 
and  occupied  by  Richard  Sullivan,  Esq.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Judge  Jackson.  He  was  judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
ten  years.  He  also  rendered  important  services  on  the 
Commission  which  reported  the  Revised  Statutes  of  Massa- 
chusetts, in  1835.*  Both  these  gentlemen  were  distin- 
guished for  their  elegance  of  manner  and  genial  traits,  as 
well  as  for  high  culture,  and  the  house  was  the  resort  of 
many  distinguished  persons.  The  place  was  next  owned 

*  Allen's  American  Biographical  Dictionary. 


296  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

by  the  late  John  E.  Thayer,  who  removed  the  old  house 
and  made  preparations  for  building  a  new  one,  when  the 
work  of  constructing  the  Brookline  Reservoir  was  com- 
menced, and  it  was  thought  it  would  damage  the  location, 
and  consequently  he  chose  a  new  site  and  built  upon  War- 
ren Street.  Mr.  Benjamin  Howard  of  Boston  next  pur- 
chased this  fine  place,  built  the  present  house,  and  lived 
here  eleven  years.  During  the  time  of  his  residence  here, 
his  son  Chandler  Howard,  at  that  time  a  rising  young 
merchant,  widely  known,  and  much  beloved  for  the  excel- 
lence of  his  character,  lost  his  life  by  an  accident  with  his 
horse  while  riding  to  Boston  over  the  Mill-dam.  Within 
a  few  years  after,  a  sister  of  Mr.  Howard  met  the  same 
fate  in  almost  the  same  way,  while  riding  near  the  Cook 
place  on  Warren  Street.  Two  such  tragedies  in  one 
family  in  a  short  time,  were  enough  to  overshadow  the 
brightest  household,  and  the  remnant  of  the  family  left 
Brookline  not  long  afterwards.  The  place  was  then  pur- 
chased by  its  present  owners. 

The  ground  now  covered  by  the  Reservoir  was  a  large 
meadow  lying  lower  than  the  level  of  the  street.  The 
embankment  on  the  side  next  the  street  is  wholly  arti- 
ficial. Instead  of  being  a  disadvantage  to  the  vicinity  as 
many  persons  feared,  the  great  improvement  caused  by 
the  Reservoir  is  apparent  to  all. 

The  part  of  Boylston  Street,  from  the  gate-house  of  the 
Reservoir  to  the  junction  of  Heath  Street  and  Brighton 
Street,  it  should  be  remembered  is  a  part  of  the  old  road, 
and  was  merely  widened  when  the  turnpike  was  built,  but 
was  not  turned  from  its  course.  On  the  north  side  of  it, 
between  these  points,  are  three  very  old  and  interesting 
places. 

The  large,  old-fashioned  wooden  house  on  Boylston 
Street,  opposite  the  westerly  end  of  the  Reservoir,  now 


INTRODUCTION   OF  INOCULATION.  297 

owned  by  Henry  Lee,  Esq.,  was  known  for  many  years 
as  the  old  Boylston  house,  —  afterwards,  for  many  years 
more,  as  the  Hyslop  place.  It  is  one  of  the  most  interest- 
ing historical  places  in  the  town. 

Thomas  Boylston  came  to  this  country  from  England 
and  settled  in  Watertown  in  1635.  His  son  Thomas, 
born  in  that  town  in  1644,  became  a  surgeon.  He  took 
an  active  part  in  the  Narragansett  war.  He  married  Mary 
Gardner  of  Muddy  River,  in  1665,  and  settled  upon  the 
place  which  we  are  describing,  and  from  that  time  for- 
ward the  Boylstons  were  identified  with  Brookline.  There 
were  twelve  children  of  this  marriage.  His  son  Peter  in- 
herited the  homestead.  One  of  the  daughters,  Susanna, 
married  John  Adams,  of  Braintree,  and  was  the  mother 
of  John  Adams,  second  President  of  the  United  States. 
The  second  child  of  Dr.  Thomas  Boylston,  was  the  emi- 
nent Dr.  Zabdiel  Boylston,  born  in  1680,  who  acquired 
wide  celebrity  and  at  first  a  most  unenviable  one,  by  the 
introduction  of  inoculation  for  the  small-pox.  His  memoir 
has  been  written,  and  is  full  of  interest.*  The  small-pox 
was  making  fearful  ravages  in  Boston  in  1721,  when  the 
Rev.  Cotton  Mather  communicated  to  Dr.  Boylston  an 
account  of  the  transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  respect- 
ing inoculation  as  practiced  in  Turkey.  Instead  of  allow- 
ing the  disease  to  be  taken  in  its  natural  way,  the  chances 
being  that  more  than  one  sixth  of  the  patients  would  die, 
the  matter  was  forestalled  by  preparing  the  system  for  it 
by  medical  treatment  and  then  scarifying  the  skin  and 
applying  the  virus  under  a  nutshell.  Under  inoculation 
it  was  seldom  that  a  patient  lost  his  life.  The  practice 
was  not  even  begun  in  England  when  Cotton  Mather  sug- 
gested it  to  Dr.  Boylston  for  experiment.  He  introduced 
the  subject  to  the  attention  of  other  physicians  in  Boston 

*  See  American  Med.  Biography,  by  J.  Thacher. 
20 


298  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

and  vicinity,  and  was  met  with  violent  opposition ;  the 
medical  men,  both  in  this  country  and  in  England,  taking 
the  ground  that  it  was  a  crime  which  came  under  the 
classification  of  poisoning,  while  the  clergy  preached 
against  it,  and  wrote  pamphlets,  arguing  that  the  small- 
pox was  a  judgment  from  God  for  the  sins  of  the  people, 
and  that  to  try  to  check  its  sway  would  only  "provoke 
Him  the  more." 

A  sermon  was  preached  by  a  Rev.  Mr.  Massey,  in 
1722,  against  "  The  Dangerous  and  Sinful  Practice  of 
Inoculation,"  from  the  text,  "  So  Satan  went  forth  from 
the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and  smote  Job  with  sore  boils 
from  the  sole  of  his  foot  unto  his  crown,"  —  from  whence 
he  argued  that  the  Devil  was  the  first  inoculator  and  Job 
his  first  patient.  Some  fifty  years  afterward  an  epigram 
appeared  in  the  "  Monthly  Miscellany,"  on  this  sage 
opinion  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Massey,  as  follows  :  — 

"  We're  told  by  one  of  the  black  robe, 
The  Devil  inoculated  Job ; 
Suppose  'tis  true,  what  he  does  tell, 
Pray  neighbors,  did  not  Job  do  well  f  " 

The  inhabitants  of  Boston  and  vicinity  became  so 
excited,  that  men  patrolled  the  streets  with  halters,  in 
search  of  the  Doctor,  threatening  to  hang  him  to  the 
nearest  tree.  The  Doctor  was  secreted  fourteen  days  in 
his  own  house,  in  a  hiding-place  known  only  to  his  wife. 
During  this  time  the  house  was  repeatedly  searched  for 
him,  by  day  and  by  night,  without  success.  One 
evening,  a  hand-grenade  was  dashed  through  the  par- 
lor window,  where  his  wife  and  children  were  sitting. 
Fortunately  the  fuse  was  knocked  off  against  a  piece 
of  furniture,  and  the  family  escaped  death. 

The  Doctor  could  only  visit  his  patients  in  the  night, 
and  in  disguise.  Yet,  notwithstanding  all  this  violence, 


DR.   ZABDIEL   BOYLSTON.  299 

he  was  brave  enough  to  persevere  with  his  experiments, 
being  sanguine  of  success.  He  inoculated  his  own  child 
and  two  servants,  and  though  they  all  had  the  disease 
mildly  and  recovered,  the  authorities  of  Boston  sum- 
moned him  before  them  to  answer  for  his  practice.  He 
underwent  repeated  examinations,  and  received  insults 
and  threats.  During  the  year,  however,  he  inoculated 
two  hundred  and  eighty-six  persons,  of  all  ages,  from 
infancy  to  old  age,  of  whom  only  six  died,  while  of  five 
thousand  seven  hundred  and  fifty-nine,  who  took  it  in 
the  natural  way  during  the  same  period,  eight  hundred 
and  forty-four  died.  The  success  of  the  practice  was 
established,  but  the  opposition  did  not  cease.  During 
this  time  the  Doctor  was  in  correspondence  with  the 
court  physician  in  England,  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  and  was 
invited  to  visit  London.  This  invitation  he  accepted, 
and  on  his  arrival  he  was  treated  with  great  attention, 
and  was  made  a  "  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,"  one  of 
the  first  Americans  thus  honored.  He  remained  in  Eng- 
land a  year  and  a  half  and  then  returned. 

As  he  grew  somewhat  infirm  with  years,  he  retired 
from  his  profession,  which  had  kept  him  much  in  Boston, 
and  devoted  himself  to  his  farm  in  Brookline,  which  he 
bought  of  his  brother  Peter,  and  on  which  he  built  the 
present  house.  He  was  greatly  interested,  and  very 
successful  in  improving  the  breed  of  various  domestic 
animals,  especially  horses,  for  which  his  farm  became 
celebrated.  He  often  broke  the  animals  himself,  being  a 
fine  horseman.  His  biographer  speaks  of  him  as  having 
been  seen  in  Boston  after  he  was  eighty-four  years  of 
age,  riding  a  fine  colt  he  was  breaking.  He  lived  to  see 
inoculation  universally  practiced.  This  custom  prevailed 
till  it  was  superseded  by  vaccination,  as  practiced  by  Dr. 
Waterhouse,  in  Cambridge,  and  Dr.  Aspinwall,  in  Brook- 


300  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

line.  He  died  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven,  and  was  buried 
in  Brookline  Cemetery.  His  epitaph  is  said  to  be  a  just 
and  appropriate  one  :  — 

"  Sacred  to  the  memory  of  Zabdiel  Boylston,  Esq.,  and 
F.  R.  S.,  who  first  introduced  the  practice  of  inoculation  into 
America.  Through  a  life  of  extensive  benevolence,  he  was 
always  faithful  to  his  word,  just  in  his  dealings,  affable  in  his 
manners,  and  after  a  long  sickness  in  which  he  was  exemplary 
for  his  patience  and  resignation  to  his  Maker,  he  quitted  this 
mortal  life  in  a  just  expectation  of  a  happy  immortality,  March 
1st,  1766," 

It  is  said  that  Dr.  Boylston,  in  his  will,  bequeathed 
his  house  and  farm  to  the  town,  as  a  home  for  the  poor, 
on  certain  conditions,  to  which  one  of  his  relatives  was 
expected  to  accede,  but  this  not  being  complied  with,  the 
town  missed  the  donation. 

From  Dudley  Boylston,  a  brother  of  the  Doctor,  who 
married  Susanna  Gardner,  descended  the  first  wife  of 
the  late  Deacon  Joshua  C.  Clark.  Her  daughters  are 
the  last  of  this  old  family,  in  Brookline.  From  Thomas, 
another  brother,  descended  Thomas,  who  died  in  London, 
a  wealthy  merchant,  who  made  bequests  to  the  city  of 
Boston.  His  sister  Mary  married  a  Hallowell.  One  of 
her  sons  became  Admiral  Sir  Benjamin  Hallowell,  of  the 
British  Navy.  Another  of  her  sons,  preferring  the  family 
name  of  his  mother  to  that  of  his  father,  changed  his 
name  to  Ward  Nicholas  Boylston.  He  became  a  mer- 
chant of  London,  acquired  great  wealth,  and  was  dis- 
tinguished for  his  liberality.  He  returned  to  his  native 
place,  and  lived  for  several  years  in  Roxbury,  and  after- 
wards in  Princeton.  He  gave  large  bequests  to  many 
charitable  enterprises,  and  munificent  donations  to  Har- 
vard College  and  the  Boylston  Medical  Society  and 
Library. 


THE   HYSLOPS.  301 

Thomas  Boylston,  the  son  of  another  brother,  settled 
in  School  Street,  Boston,  and  was  identified  with  Brattle 
Street  Church.  He  endowed  a  Professorship  at  Harvard 
College.  He  directed  his  executors  to  purchase  the  home- 
stead of  his  ancestors  in  Brookline,  and  convey  the  same 
to  the  First  Church  in  this  town,  on  condition  that  the 
church  officers  would  allow  his  nephew,  Joshua  Boylston, 
to  live  upon  the  place,  for  which  he  should  pay  a  rent  of 
ten  pounds  annually  to  the  church.  The  estate  was  to 
be  entailed  in  the  male  line  from  this  heir,  in  the  same 
way  from  generation  to  generation,  and  failing  the  heir, 
who  should  have  the  right  to  live  upon  it,  it  should  go 
to  the  church.  But  the  property  was  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  William  Hyslop,  who  had  bought  it  of  the  Doctor's 
heirs,  and  the  Brookline  Church  never  received  the  in- 
tended bequest,  neither  did  Joshua  Boylston  ever  have 
a  male  heir,  and  with  him  the  family  name  became  ex- 
tinct in  Brookline. 

THE   HYSLOPS. 

Mr.  William  Hyslop,  the  purchaser  of  the  Boylston 
house,  was  a  native  of  Scotland.  He  came  to  this  coun- 
try in  his  youth,  and  began  business  as  a  peddler  of  dry 
goods,  which  he  carried  from  house  to  house  in  a  pack 
upon  his  back.  He  was  very  successful  in  this  humble 
beginning,  and  having  invested  money  in  goods  at  a  fortu- 
nate time  and  way,  he  was  able  to  enter  the  dry  goods 
trade  still  more  extensively,  and  became  very  wealthy. 

He  had  a  son  of  the  same  name,  the  one  mentioned  as 
having  lived  for  some  years  in  the  house  now  occupied  by 
Mr.  Chapin,  a  son  David,  and  one  daughter,  Elizabeth, 
who  became  the  wife  of  Governor  Increase  Sumner. 

There  was  a  Scotch  Presbyterian  clergyman  with  whom 
Mr.  Hyslop  was  acquainted  in  the  old  country,  who  emi- 


302  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

grated  to  Massachusetts  with  twenty  or  more  of  his 
parishioners,  and  settled  in  Worcester.  His  name  was 
Abercrombie.  After  a  residence  for  some  time  in  Wor- 
cester Mr.  Abercrombie  removed  with  his  people  to  a 
more  congenial  situation  on  the  Pelham  Hills.  When 
this  good  man  could  number  eleven  "  olive  plants  round 
about  his  table,"  he  was  suddenly  left  a  widower.  The 
youngest  had  been  named  Mehitable,  for  Mrs.  Hyslop, 
and  when  the  little  girl  was  six  years  of  age  Mr.  Hyslop 
adopted  her  as  his  own,  and  she  remained  in  his  family 
till  her  marriage.  Mr.  Hyslop's  business  called  him  oc- 
casionally to  Europe,  and  on  his  return  at  one  time  he 
brought  with  him  a  slab,  or  pier  table,  which  was  sup- 
ported by  a  pair  of  large  spread  eagles,  the  claws  of  which 
each  clasped  a  round  ball.  It  was  placed  between  the 
parlor  windows.  This  was  a  highly  ornamental  piece  of 
furniture  for  those  days,  and  as  such  was  much  admired 
and  prized.  When  the  Revolutionary  War  broke  out, 
Mr.  Hyslop  was  in  Europe,  and  the  contingencies  of  the 
war  were  such  that  he  could  not  return  till  it  was  over, 
without  imperiling  his  life.  While  the  British  troops 
occupied  Boston,  a  great  alarm  was  one  day  created  in  the 
upper  part  of  Brookline,  by  a  man  who  rode  up  the  old 
road  furiously,  on  horseback,  telling  all  whom  he  met  that 
the  British  troops  were  at  the  church  green.  This  was 
at  the  green  in  front  of  the  church  on  Roxbury  Hill ;  but 
the  people  of  the  upper  part  of  this  town  naturally 
enough  supposed  that  the  Brookline  church  green  was 
meant,  and  great  was  the  terror  that  ensued.  The  first 
impulse  was  to  flee  for  safety ;  the  second  to  carry  off 
something  valuable  ;  but  like  distracted  people  at  a  fire, 
who  throw  mirrors  out  of  the  windows  and  carry  mat- 
trasses  carefully  down-stairs,  they  seized  upon  anything 
but  what  the  British  would  have  taken  had  they  come. 


THE   HYSLOP   HOMESTEAD.  303 

The  table  with  the  spread  eagles  was  hurriedly  torn 
from  the  wall  and  laboriously  carried  up  into  the  woods, 
which  then  covered  the  whole  hill  back  of  the  house,  and 
there  buried  by  the  servants.  The  little  adopted  daughter 
was  not  to  be  outdone  by  the  rest  of  the  family,  and  she 
secured  a  new  pair  of  red  bellows  which  hung  beside  the 
fire-place,  and  never  let  them  go  during  the  flight  and 
the  temporary  absence. 

Colonial  troops  were  afterward  quartered  in  the  house  ; 
and  the  family  took  refuge  in  Medfield,  from  the  fortunes 
of  war.  When  a  return  was  safe,  and  the  buried  eagles 
were  dug  up,  for  restoration  to  their  proper  place,  one 
was  broken.  It  was  mended  and  the  table  replaced,  be- 
ing fastened  to  the  wall  with  nails  instead  of  screws,  thus 
making  the  thing  legally  a  part  of  the  house,  and  not  a 
movable  article.  Not  many  years  ago  the  eagles  were 
claimed  by  Governor  Sumner's  descendants  as  a  part  of 
their  inheritance,  but  it  was  shown  that  they  were  a  part 
of  the  house,  and  the  demand  was  not  allowed.  They 
remained  there  at  the  last  accounts,  and  are  an  appro- 
priate adornment  for  the  ancient  and  curious  house.  Mr. 
Hyslop  returned  after  the  war  was  over,  and  died  in  1796, 
aged  eighty-five  years. 

His  son  David  inherited  the  homestead.  This  singular 
man  is  well  remembered  by  many  persons  now  living. 
He  was  lame,  of  uncouth  figure,  and  such  excessive  home- 
liness of  countenance  as  is  seldom  seen,  amounting  al- 
most to  hideousness.  He  also  had  an  impediment  in  his 
speech,  or  rather  never  learned  to  speak  plainly,  always 
articulating  his  words  like  a  little  child,  and  the  order  of 
his  mind  being  below  the  average  he  never  acquired  much 
education.  But  he  inherited  great  wealth,  and  this  con- 
sideration, in  the  eyes  of  many,  counterbalanced  all  his 
defects. 


304  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES   OF  BBOOKL1NE. 

"  Oh,  what  a  world  of  vile,  ill-favored  faults 
Look  handsome  in  three  hundred  pounds  a  year." 

He  found  a  wife,  notwithstanding  his  personal  pecu- 
liarities, was  left  a  widower,  and  when  quite  advanced  in 
years,  married  a  lovely  young  girl  of  great  personal 
beauty,  who  was  sacrificed  to  her  father's  ambition  for 
wealth.  Mr.  Hyslop  was  not  a  bad  man,  however,  but 
his  singularities  were  a  source  of  annoyance  or  amusement 
to  all  with  whom  he  had  any  dealings.  He  had  a  strange 
aversion  to  music  of  all  kinds,  and  especially  to  the  in- 
struments used  at  church,  and  the  anthems  so  much  prac- 
ticed in  those  times  and  which  he  always  called  "  tan- 
trums" He  would  not  attend  church  on  Thanksgiving 
days,  on  account  of  the  "  tantrums"  which  formed  a 
prominent  part  of  the  service.  Soon  after  the  old  gentle- 
man brought  his  young  bride  to  Brookline,  a  bassoon  was 
added  to  the  orchestra  at  church  by  Captain  Robert 
Davis,  who  played  well. 

Mrs.  Hyslop  lingered  one  Sunday  after  service  to  hear 
the  choir  practice  a  little,  while  her  husband  went  out  for 
his  horse.  As  soon  as  he  was  ready,  however,  he  made 
his  appearance  at  the  church  door,  and  beckoning  to  his 
wife  he  called  out  loudly  in  his  broken  speech,  "  Jane  ! 
tome  !  tome  along !  don't  'tay  there  to  hear  the  bag- 
pipe" 

It  was  his  custom  to  make  a  long  prayer  every  morn- 
ing before  breakfast,  at  which  every  member  of  the  house- 
hold was  requested  to  be  present.  He  always  prayed 
with  his  eyes  open,  and  the  consequence  was  that  material 
things  and  spiritual  were  apt  to  get  decidedly  mixed. 
On  one  occasion,  while  thus  praying  he  happened  to  see, 
through  the  open  door  into  the  kitchen,  a  monkey  which 
he  kept,  making  free  with  the  sausages  which  had  been 
set  frying  before  the  morning  worship  began.  Pausing 


AN  "IRON  STUDY."  305 

in  the  prayer,  he  interpolated  a  direction  to  "  Hetty," 
that  the  sausages  should  be  protected,  and  went  on  with 
his  prayer  without  the  slightest  perception  of  anything 
ludicrous  in  the  situation.  His  remark  must  have  had  a 
peculiar  effect  on  those  who  had  not  observed  the  per- 
formance in  the  kitchen. 

In  the  third  story  of  the  house  at  the  southwesterly 
corner  was  a  small  room  which  was  dark  and  only  acces- 
sible through  another  room,  and  not  easily  noticed. 
(Perhaps  this  was  where  Dr.  Boylston  was  secreted  from 
his  enemies.)  This  room  Mr.  Hyslop  called  his  "  iron 
'tudy,"  — and  it  was  the  only  "  study  "  of  which  he  ever 
made  use.  In  this  he  hoarded  up  all  the  old  iron  he  could 
collect  on  the  premises,  and  quantities  of  other  things 
useful  and  useless.  The  key  he  always  carried  with  him. 
Articles  of  daily  domestic  use  often  disappeared.  Inquir- 
ies and  search  were  of  no  avail.  After  weeks  or  months, 
perhaps,  the  proposal  often  before  made,  that  he  should 
look  in  his  "iron  study,"  for  the  missing  article,  re- 
sulted in  the  restoi'ation  of  it,  as  composedly  returned  as 
if  no  inconvenience  had  arisen  from  its  absence. 

Anything  on  the  place,  from  a  silver  spoon  to  a 
bread  trough,  a  rake  or  a  halter,  was  liable  to  spend  a 
season  in  the  "  iron  study."  His  peculiar  ideas  were 
also  evinced  in  his  management  of  his  fruit.  The  place 
abounded  in  choice  fruit,  especially  peaches,  plums,  and 
cherries.  These  he  could  not  use,  would  not  sell,  and 
did  not  give  away.  Bushels  upon  bushels  of  the  finest 
fruit  lay  and  perished  under  the  trees  every  year. 

There  were  two  daughters  and  one  son  by  this  mar- 
riage, and  both  the  former  died  in  childhood.  The  son, 
who  was  a  fine  lad,  lived  till  within  a  few  days  of  his 
twenty-first  birthday. 

While  John  Adams  was  President  of  the  United  States, 


306  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

he  came  to  Brookline,  and  was  the  guest  of  Hon.  Jona- 
than Mason,  who  lived  on  what  is  now  Colonel  Lyman's 
place.  While  there  he  spoke  of  the  last  time  he  had 
passed  along  that  road  as  riding  on  horseback,  carrying 
his  mother  on  a  pillion  behind  him.  He  never  lost  his 
interest  in  this  home  of  his  ancestors,  and  in  1821,  when 
he  was  very  aged,  and  so  infirm  that  he  was  unable  to 
walk  without  assistance,  he  expressed  a  wish  to  visit  once 
more  the  old  place  where  his  mother  was  born,  and  where 
his  grandparents  had  lived  and  died. 

Accordingly,  Mr.  Hyslop  made  a  dinner  party,  and 
invited  the  venerable  ex-President,  Governor  Brooks, 
General  Stunner,  and  other  distinguished  guests.  It  was 
a  grand  affair,  and  passed  off  with  great  eclat,  but  there 
was  something  pathetic  in  the  sight  of  the  almost  help- 
less old  man,  supported  by  his  grandson,  going  feebly 
about  the  place,  and  taking  a  last  look  of  scenes  once  so 
familiar  to  his  boyhood. 

Mr.  Hyslop  died  in  1822,  at  the  age  of  sixty-seven, 
and  thus  ended  the  Hyslop  name. 

His  widow  married  again  ;  her  second  husband  being 
Mr.  John  Hay  den.  There  were  no  children  ;  she  sur- 
vived her  husband,  and  at  her  death,  the  Hyslop  wealth, 
which  comprised  much  real  estate  in  Roxbury  and  Chel- 
sea, as  well  as  the  place  in  Brookline,  went  to  the  heirs 
of  Elizabeth  Hyslop,  and  by  them  the  homestead  was 
sold  to  the  present  owner. 

THE   SEAVER,    OR    HAMMOND    PLACE,    AND    THE   ACKERS 

PLACE. 

West  of  the  old  Boylston  house,  on  the  crest  of  the 
hill,  was  built  in  1742,  a  house  which  stood  until  since 
the  purchase  of  the  place  by  the  late  Francis  Fisher,  Esq. 
All  the  land,  as  we  have  before  mentioned,  from  Cypress 


THE   SEAVER  PLACE.  307 

Street  to  Brighton  Street,  and  from  the  old  road  to  the 
brook,  was  held  among  the  Gardners.  John  Seaver 
married  a  Gardner,  and  lived  on  the  place  we  are  de- 
scribing. His  son  Nathaniel  built  the  house  above  men- 
tioned, and  it  was  afterwards  occupied  by  his  son  of  the 
same  name.  This  Nathaniel  Seaver  was  twice  married, 
and  there  were  eight  children  ;  from  one  of  the  sons 
descended  the  present  Seavers  of  Boston  (Highlands). 
The  late  Mayor,  Benjamin  Seaver,  was  one  of  them. 
Nathaniel,  the  only  son  of  the  second  marriage,  was  on 
board  a  vessel  as  supercargo,  when  it  was  wrecked,  and 
he  with  the  captain  and  part  of  the  crew,  were  cast  away 
on  a  desert  island,  where  after  great  sufferings  and  hard- 
ships he  died.  A  book  was  afterwards  written  by 
Captain  Ockington,  his  brother-in-law,  who  was  rescued, 
containing  an  account  of  their  strange  experiences,  and 
of  the  death  of  young  Seaver.  His  mother  died  young, 
leaving  two  daughters,  who  were  afterwards  married,  the 
one  to  one  of  the  Gardners,  the  other  to  Mr.  John  God- 
dard,  the  father  of  the  late  Benjamin  Goddard.  As  none 
of  the  Seavers  settled  upon  the  old  place,  it  was  sold  to 
John  Deane,  and  afterwards  to  John  Lucas.  This  man 
had  become  wealthy  in  the  business  of  a  baker,  and  re- 
tired to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  industry  upon  this  beauti- 
ful place.  He  lived  many  years  in  Brookline,  was  an 
attendant  upon  Dr.  Pierce's  ministry,  and  showed  his 
great  regard  for  him  by  frequently  taking  him  on  jour- 
neys or  short  trips,  bearing  his  expenses,  and  always 
bespeaking  the  best  of  hospitalities  for  him  on  the  ground 
that  he  was  his  "  wife's  minister" 

Mr.  Lucas  died  in  1812,  and  the  place  was  next  owned 
for  many  years  by  Samuel  Hammond.  The  mansion 
house  stood  a  little  in  front,  and  east  of  the  old  farm- 
house which  still  remains,  and  the  terrace  on  which  it 
stood  is  still  to  be  seen. 


308  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

On  the  site  of  the  house  built  by  the  late  Francis 
Fisher,  stood  a  large  old-fashioned  house,  known  as  tl^e 
Ackers  house.  John  Ackers  was  a  resident  of  Muddy 
River  in  1656,  and  for  more  than  two  hundred  years  his 
descendants,  to  the  sixth  generation,  have  lived  on  or 
near  that  spot.  The  first  house  built  by  this  first  John 
Ackers,  was  on  the  west  side  of  Brighton  Street,  then 
called  "  the  lane  from  the  country  road  to  Cambridge" 
(Brighton  it  must  be  remembered  was  then  a  part  of 
Cambridge).  This  land  was  an  interesting  piece  of 
territory,  and  still  is,  from  old  associations.  In  1648, 
it  was  "  Voted  that  Jacob  Eliot  should  have  the  swamp 
that  joyneth  to  his  allotment  at  Muddy  River  next  to 
Cotton  Flax  (sometimes  spelt  Flack's),  he  receiving 
lybertye  to  cut  Hedgyng  wood  in  it  for  the  Common 
fence  that  runneth  through  the  said  swamp."  The  "  Com- 
mon was  a  part  of  the  five  hundred  acres  set  apart  by 
the  town  of  Boston  at  Muddy  River  for  perpetual  com- 
monage ;  "  but  which  in  time  was  all  of  it  alienated,  or 
taken  up  and  improved.  This  Jacob  Eliot  was  the 
brother  of  John  Eliot,  the  famous  Apostle  to  the  Indians. 
He  was  a  deacon  of  the  Roxbury  Church,  of  which  his 
brother  was  minister.  About  the  year  1640,  Jacob  Eliot 
was  appointed  to  lay  out  a  highway  from  Boston  to 
Cambridge,  which  was  laid  out  and  trees  spotted  along 
the  old  Indian  trail  as  far  as  "  the  falls  of  Charles  River." 
All  the  territory  on  the  north  and  northwest  side  of 
the  river,  being  for  several  years  called  Cambridge. 
This  road  led  along  what  is  now  Walnut  Street,  Heath 
Street,  Pound  Lane,  and  Reservoir  Lane,  to  Nonantum 
Hill.  At  this  place  was  an  Indian  village,  or  settlement 
of  "  praying  Indians,"  and  an  Indian  burying-place  was 
located  on  what  John  Ackers  bought  for  his  farm,  on 
the  west  side  of  Brighton  Street,  including  Ackers' 


JOHN  ACKERS'  FARM.  309 

Avenue,  and  all  the  ground  now  occupied  by  the  Irish 
population.  There  was  probably  an  Indian  village  here 
also,  as  many  Indian  relics  have  been  ploughed  out,  on 
this  ground,  as  well  as  at  Nonantum  Hill.  Many  years 
after  all  the  Indians  were  gone  from  this  locality,  some 
old  Indians  travelled  a  long  distance  from  the  west  to 
visit  these  old  graves  of  their  fathers.  Jacob  Eliot's 
"  Swamp,"  it  is  quite  evident  from  old  deeds,  included 
all  the  meadow  land  from  Ackers'  Avenue  to  the  new 
Reservoir.  This  Jacob  Eliot  died  in  1651,  leaving  among 
other  children  a  Capt.  Jacob  Eliot  (also  a  deacon)  and  a 
daughter  Mary,  who  married  Theophilus  Frarey  of  Bos- 
ton. It  seems  that  this  Captain  Eliot  and  his  brother-in- 
law  Frarey  retained  this  property,  until  the  death  of  the 
Captain  in  1693  rendered  it  necessary  to  sell  it  in  set- 
tlement of  his  estate.  A  curious  old  deed,  still  in  pos- 
session of  the  Ackers  family,  written  in  1698,  bears  the 
names  of  Theophilus  Frarey,  and  the  widow  and  chil- 
dren of  Deacon  Jacob  Eliot,  who  joined  in  deeding  a 
part  or  all  of  this  land  (twenty  acres)  to  John  Ackers. 
The  cellar  of  the  original  Ackers'  house  was  traceable 
within  the  memory  of  persons  now  living. 

One  of  the  children  of  Deacon  Eliot,  whose  name  with 
her  husband's  appears  in  this  old  deed,  was  the  wife  of 
Elizur  Holyoke.  This  couple  were  the  parents  of  Ed- 
wark  Holyoke,  afterwards  President  of  Harvard  College. 

Three  years  previous  to  this  purchase  John  Ackers  had 
bought  of  Samuel  Ruggles  a  tract  of  land  on  the  east  side 
of  "  the  lane,  "  or  Brighton  Street,  now  belonging  to  the 
heirs  of  the  late  Jacob  Pierce. 

These  old  deeds  are  in  excellent  preservation,  the  one 
containing  the  signature  of  the  Eliots,  bearing  heavy  black 
seals.  John  Ackers  married  Desiretruth  Thome  of  Bos- 
ton, and  their  children  "  Desiretruth  and  Elizabeth,"  per- 


310  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

haps  twins,  were  baptized  and  recorded  in  Roxbury  in 
July,  1666.  There  were  afterwards  several  other  children, 
including  two  sons,  John  and  William.  The  father  after- 
wards moved  to  Dunstable,  and  the  son  John  occupied 
the  homestead.  This  John  was  a  thrifty  farmer,  fre- 
quently buying  tracts  of  land  around  him  as  well  as  wood- 
land and  marsh  lands,  as  the  ancient  deeds  prove.  All 
the  Ackerses  have  been  farmers  through  seven  genera- 
tions. In  the  mean  time,  on  the  corner  of  Brighton  and 
Boylston  streets,  where  Mr.  Fisher's  house  now  stands, 
was  the  house  of  Joseph  White.  Nathaniel  Holland  mar- 
ried one  of  his  daughters,  and  to  him  the  place  was  deeded 
in  1695.  In  1705,  the  same  year  that  the  town  was  set 
off  and  incorporated,  John  and  William  Ackers  purchased 
the  house  and  land. 

The  names  of  these  two  men  and  that  of  their  father 
appeared  on  the  petition  for  the  separation  of  Muddy 
River  from  Boston  the  previous  year.  In  1735  William 
Ackers,  son  of  the  last  named  John,  then  a  youth  of  sev- 
enteen, brought  from  the  woods,  upon  his  shoulder,  and 
set  out,  the  fine  elm  tree  which  now  casts  its  luxuriant 
shadow  upon  the  lawn.  In  1744,  John  Ackers  built  a 
fine  large  house  on  this  spot,  which  was  quite  imposing  for 
a  farm-house  in  those  days.  In  Revolutionary  times  it 
was  occupied  as  barracks  for  colonial  troops,  but  the  family 
did  not  leave  it,  as  many  families  left  their  houses,  but 
divided  with  the  soldiers  and  bore  the  inconvenience. 
The  old  road  was  then  much  narrower  in  front  of  the 
house  than  at  present.  The  well,  where  a  sweep  was 
poised  for  lifting  the  water  in  "  the  old  oaken  bucket," 
was  at  the  foot  of  the  grassy  slope,  and  all  the  water  was 
carried  by  hand  with  much  toil,  to  the  house  and  barn  up 
the  hill.  The  road  has  since  been  widened,  and  the  old 
well  is  now  under  the  sidewalk.  Mr.  William  Ackers, 


THE   ACKERS   PLACE.  311 

second,  died  in  1794,  at  a  good  old  age.  His  son  William, 
the  third  of  the  name,  was  the  next  owner  of  the  house. 
He  married  Mehi table  Hyslop  Abercrombie,  the  adopted 
daughter  of  Mr.  William  Hyslop. 

Mr.  Hyslop  gave  her  a  great  wedding,  which  was  a  grand 
event  in  the  town  for  those  times,  and  was  not  only  a 
theme  for  tea-table  chat,  but  was  remembered,  talked  of, 
and  written  about,  long  after.  The  sons  of  this  marriage 
were  outlived  by  their  father,  who  died  in  1841,  the  last 
male  member  of  this  ancient  family. 

The  place  was  sold  by  the  heirs  to  Mr.  John  Howe,  and 
was  purchased  from  him  in  1850  by  the  late  Francis 
Fisher.  The  old  house  was  taken  down,  and  though  it 
had  stood  for  more  than  a  century  it  was  in  excellent  pres- 
ervation. The  present  fine  house  was  built  the  same  year. 

The  great  elm  has  been  preserved  with  assiduous  care. 
In  1839,  during  a  gale  of  wind,  a  large  lower  branch  was 
torn  from  the  tree  and  fell  upon  the  end  of  the  house, 
breaking  it  through.  A  large  cavity  was  left  in  the  trunk, 
which  had  increased  by  the  action  of  the  weather  and 
natural  decay,  till  the  very  existence  of  the  tree  was 
threatened.  Mr.  Fisher  immediately  set  about  the  work 
of  rescuing  it.  The  cavity  was  carefully  excavated  to  the 
solid  wood  ;  all  the  decay  being  removed,  the  opening 
was  then  carefully  filled  with  bricks  laid  in  cement,  and 
the  whole  covered  with  a  plate  of  lead  to  protect  it 
from  the  weather.  The  dead  and  unsightly  branches  were 
removed,  the  bark  scraped  to  destroy  moss  and  insects, 
and  a  flower  bed  opened  near  it  to  admit  of  a  constant 
supply  of  nutriment  to  the  roots.  The  result  was  a 
complete  renovation  of  the  patriarchal  tree.  It  com- 
menced growing  again  with  vigor,  and  new  wood  formed 
which  from  time  to  time  pushed  out  the  bricks  till  the  open- 
ing was  greatly  reduced  in  size,  while  the  girth  of  the  tree 


312  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES  OF   BROOKLINE. 

was  much  increased.  In  1829  the  large  tree  nearer  the 
street  was  broken  in  two  by  a  weight  of  ice.  This  also 
was  suffering  from  neglect,  but  a  similar  course  was  the 
means  of  its  preservation,  and  new  bark  has  nearly  oblit- 
erated the  marks  of  the  injury. 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  Thomas  Stedman  was 
one  of  the  abuttors  upon  the  Ackers  farm  in  1698  ;  and 
that  Mr.  Fisher,  who  is  a  descendant  from  that  family,  on 
the  mother's  side,  should,  without  design,  come  to  live  in 
this  neighborhood  of  his  ancestor,  so  far  removed,  and  beau- 
tify the  grounds  so  familiar  in  their  primitive  wildness  to 
his  predecessors  of  more  than  a  century  ago. 


SAMUEL   WHITE.  313 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE.  HOUSE  OF  SAMUEL  WHITE,  ESQ.,  AFTERWARDS  THE  HEATH 
PLACE.  —  AUNT    WHITE.  -  THE    WINCHESTERS. 


first  White  who  settled  in  Brookline  was  John 
White,  who  came  from  Watertown  very  early  in  the 
days  of  the  Colonial  settlement,  and  from  him  all  the  old 
families  of  Brookline  by  that  name  have  descended.  He 
settled  in  "  the  village."  Major  Edward  White,  of  whom 
an  account  has  been  given,  was  his  son,  as  was  also  Joseph 
White  who  lived  on  the  corner  of  Brighton  and  Boylston 
streets,  before  the  place  was  purchased  by  the  Ackers 
brothers.  Joseph  and  Benjamin  White  both  signed  the 
petition  for  the  separation  of  Muddy  River  from  Boston, 
and  both  were  prominent  in  founding  the  First  Church. 

Samuel  White,  son  of  Joseph,  built  a  house  on  the  site 
of  the  one  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Cabot,  between  Heath  and 
Boylston  streets.  This  was  a  century  before  Boylston 
Street  was  opened,  and  the  land  belonging  to  the  house 
extended  northward  across  what  is  now  Boylston  Street 
and  abutted  upon  "  the  lane,"  or  Brighton  Street,  and  the 
Ackers'  lands.  On  the  opposite  side  of  Heath  Street  it 
extended  to  the  Reservoir  ground,  which  was  then  a  part 
of  the  "  Commons,"  or  five  hundred  acres  set  apart  by 
the  town  of  Boston  "  for  perpetual  commonage  at  Muddy 
River."  Samuel  White  married  Ann  Drew,  an  energetic 
woman  of  those  early  days,  who  made  a  practice  of  arrang- 
21 


314  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

ing  her  toilet  on  Sunday  mornings  over  a  tub  or  pail  of 
water  for  lack  of  a  looking-glass,  and  then  walked  to  "  Rox- 
bury  meeting-house,"  to  attend  a  long  day's  service.  After 
the  Brookline  church  was  established  Mr.  and  Mrs.  White 
were  identified  with  it  during  their  lifetime.  In  1759, 
about  a  year  before  Mr.  White's  death,  he  gave  by  deed 
to  the  Selectmen  of  Brookline  twenty  acres  of  woodland 
at  Needham,  "  to  supply  the  minister  or  ministers  that 
may  be  settled  in  the  town  from  time  to  time."  This 
deed  was  witnessed  before  the  eminent  lawyer  Jeremiah 
Gridley,  Esq.,  then  residing  in  the  present  Chapin  house, 
and  was  probably  written  by  him.  Ann,  a  daughter  of 
Samuel  White,  became  the  wife  of  Henry  Sewall,  grand- 
son of  Chief  Justice  Sewall  of  this  town.  She  had  three 
sons,  Henry,  Hull,  and  Samuel.  The  two  former  each 
died  at  the  age  of  twenty-four.  Samuel,  who  outlived 
his  parents,  inherited  his  father's  property,  or  the  home- 
stead. At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolutionary  War, 
this  young  man,  being  a  Loyalist  or  Tory,  abandoned  his 
native  land  and  took  refuge  in  England.  The  banishment 
act  was  passed  in  1778,  and  our  Brookline  Tory,  being 
proscribed  as  a  refugee,  never  returned.  After  the  close 
of  the  war  the  confiscated  property  was  sold  by  order  of 
Government.  It  was  purchased  by  Mr.  John  Heath  and 
thus  passed  into  the  hands  of  those  from  whom  it  after- 
ward took  the  name  of  "  the  old  Heath  house."  Samuel 
Sewall  died  unmarried  at  Bristol,  England,  in  1811. 

Susanna,  the  other  daughter  of  Samuel  White,  was  the 
wife  of  Ebenezer  Crafts  of  Roxbury,  who  built  the  house 
known  as  "the  old  Crafts  house,"  on  the  Roxbury  road, 
now  Tremont  Street.  Its  date,  1709,  upon  the  chimney, 
is  familiar  to  all.  Mr.  John  Heath  married  Mr.  Eben- 
ezer Crafts'  daughter,  and  thus,  by  this  purchase,  Mrs. 
Heath  came  to  live  in  the  house  of  her  grandfather.  One 


"  AUNT   WHITE."  315 

branch  of  the  Goddard  family  (Samuel  Goddard)  also  de- 
scended from  this  daughter  of  Samuel  White.  There 
was  also  an  intermarriage  several  years  before  between 
the  White  and  Crafts  families.  Mrs.  Elizabeth  (Crafts) 
White  was  one  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  many  occu- 
pants of  this  old  White  or  Heath  house.  She  was  born  in 
1746.  In  her  childhood,  books  were  rare,  and  the  oppor- 
tunities for  the  education  of  girls  very  limited.  The 
Bible  and  the  Almanac  were  almost  her  only  literature. 
But  her  mind  was  of  the  order  that  must  grow,  and  will 
not  be  repressed.  She  read  and  re-read  the  Bible  till  her 
knowledge  of  it  was  wonderful.  As  other  books  came 
scantily  into  her  possession,  she  read  and  studied  them, 
and  from  her  small  stock  culled  a  larger  store  of  informa- 
tion and  gained  more  strength  of  understanding  and  real 
thought  than  is  often  gained  by  those  who  skim  swiftly 
the  boundless  surface  of  the  light  literature  of  modern 
times.  She  had  a  superior  memory  and  wrote  remark- 
able letters,  and  occasional  verses.  Her  husband  was  a 
young  man  of  education  and  unusual  promise.  Early  in 
their  married  life,  however,  he  was  stricken  down  by  a 
fever  which  deprived  him  of  his  reason  and  he  died  by 
his  own  hand.  This  sorrow  overshadowed  the  whole  life 
of  the  widow  thus  bereft.  She  never  married  again,  but 
lived  to  a  great  age  beloved  and  respected  by  all.  As  she 
advanced  in  years  she  came  to  be  called  "  Aunt  White  " 
by  a  host  of  friends,  and  is  still  so  called  in  affectionate 
remembrance. 

Several  slaves  were  kept  in  the  Crafts  and  Heath  fam- 
ilies. A  bill  of  sale  of  one  of  these  is  still  extant  among 
old  papers.  It  reads  as  follows  :  — 

"  To  all  People  to  whom  these  presents  shall  come,  I  Richard 
Champion  of  Boston,  in  the  County  of  Suffolk,  of  ye  Massachu- 


316  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF    BROOKL1KK. 

setts  Bay  in  New  England  School-Master,  sendeth  Greeting, 
Know  ye  that  I  the  said  Richard  Champion  for  and  in  consider- 
ation of  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  in  good  and  passable 
bills  of  New  England  aforesaid,  the  receipt  whereof  I  do  hereby 
confess  and  acknowledge  ....  have  Bargained  and  Sold,  Re- 
leased and  granted  and  confirmed  and  by  these  Presents  do  bar- 
gain and  sell  unto  Ebenezer  Crafts  of  Roxbury,  Cordwainer,  a 
Negro  Girl  named  Dina,  about  eleven  years  old,  together  with 
all  her  wearing  apparel,  To  have  and  to  hold  the  said  Negro 
Girl  unto  the  aforesaid  Ebenezer  Crafts,  and  to  his  heirs  and 
assigns  forever." 

This  is  dated  in  1739. 

This  Dinah  proved  well  worth  the  hundred  pounds 
which  her  master  invested  in  her  at  eleven  years  of  age, 
and  during  sixty  years  she  faithfully  served  those  who 
claimed  her  allegiance. 

At  the  death  of  Dinah,  in  1803,  Mrs.  White  wrote  the 
following  lines,  which  show  not  only  her  feeling,  but  the 
view  of  slavery,  which  she  held  even  then,  before  the 
anti-slavery  agitation  had  even  begun  in  New  England :  — 

"  Tho'  now  no  pensive  father  mourns  her  death, 
Nor  tender  mother  her  departed  breath, 
No  brother  kind,  no  child  nor  sister  dear 
Sheds  o'er  her  silent  grave  one  friendly  tear, — 

"  Yet  once  the  tears  her  parents'  cheeks  bedewed 
When  human  monsters,  worse  than  tigers  rude 
With  hearts  unfeeling  as  the  direst  fiend        / 
Snatched  her  from  every  joy  and  every  friend. 

"How  were  their  bleeding  hearts  with  anguish  torn, 
When  she  was  o'er  the  raging  billows  borne, 
No  more  to  see  her  native  land  again, 
But  distant  far,  to  feel  hard  Slavery's  chain. 
Tho'  black  her  skin  as  sky  where  clouds  deform, 
And  temper  boist'rous  as  the  wintry  storm, 
Yet  sometimes  mild  as  summer  eve  was  she 
And  oft  her  ebon  visage  smiled  on  me. 


THE   WHITE   FAMILY.  317 

"  In  days  of  yore  when  in  my  infant  state, 
Her  weary  arms  did  oft  sustain  my  weight, 
And  oft  with  trifles  did  she  win  my  love, 
Ere  lapse  of  time  had  taught  my  feet  to  move. 

"  And  shall  no  tear  fall  on  the  lifeless  clay, 
Of  one  who  has  in  servitude  grown  gray  ? 
Forbid  it  heaven !    My  breast  shall  heave  a  sigh, 
While  trickling  tears  descend  from  either  eye. 

"  Rest,  rest  in  peace,  thou  relic  of  a  slave ! 
Soft  be  thy  slumbers  in  the  silent  grave, 
And  may'st  thou  rise  washed  in  the  Saviour's  blood, 
Spotless  and  white  at  the  great  day  of  God." 

There  are  other  verses  extant  which  this  lady  wrote 
when  nearly  ninety  years  of  age.  Her  taste  for  books 
and  writing  continued  to  the  end  of  her  life.  The  great- 
est recreation  for  these  quiet  wives  and  daughters  of  the 
Brookline  fanners  in  those  old  days  was  to  look  on  at 
the  gayeties  of  "  Commencement  Day,"  at  Cambridge, 
or  witness  the  display  made  by  those  who  could  attend 
and  participate  in  it.  Mrs.  White  and  others  of  the 
Crafts  family  who  came  to  live  in  Brookline  were  in  the 
habit  of  going  to  the  old  Crafts  house  011  the  Roxbury 
road,  —  before  the  bridge  to  Cambridge  was  built,  —  on 
Commencement  Days  to  see  the  gay  riding,  which  all 
passed  through  Roxbury  and  Brookline  on  these  occa- 
sions. 

Mrs.  White  died  in  1838,  aged  ninety-two  years. 

John  White,  another  son  of  Joseph,  and  brother  of 
Samuel,  born  in  Brookline,  in  1677,  became  a  minister 
and  settled  in  Gloucester.  Letters  written  by  Rev.  John 
White,  more  than  a  hundred  years  ago,  but  when  he  was 
at  an  advanced  age,  addressed  to  his  brother  Samuel,  are 
still  preserved,  and  manifest  the  devout  and  affectionate 
spirit  which  characterized  him.  He  died  in  1760,  aged 
eighty-three. 


318  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

The  papers  left  by  the  venerable  Mrs.  White  have 
been  a  means  of  the  preservation  of  various  bits  of 
family  or  local  history,  and  some  amusing  incidents  which 
would  otherwise  have  been  lost.  A  complete  genealogy 
of  the  Crafts,  White,  and  Heath  families  is  thus  pre- 
served, and  many  interesting  letters.  In  one  of  the 
latter  there  is  an  account  of  an  accident  which  occurred 
in  Cypress  Street,  in  the  last  century,  which  just  missed 
of  being  a  tragedy,  and  resulted  in  a  comedy. 

It  will  perhaps  be  remembered  by  many  persons,  that 
that  part  of  Cypress  Street  where  the  railroad  crosses, 
and  the  brook  passes  under  the  street,  was  formerly 
three  or  four  feet  lower  than  at  present.  The  great  oak 
tree  at  the  entrance  to  Tappan  Street,  stood,  within  the 
last  thirty  years,  on  ground  that  was  walled  up  at  least 
three  feet ;  and  it  was  then  easy  to  drive  a  horse  down 
through  the  brook  at  the  west  side  of  the  road.  In  the 
time  of  the  incident  we  are  about  to  relate,  the  brook 
always  ran  over  the  road,  when  swollen  by  the  rain.  The 
letter  from  which  we  gather  the  story,  is  dated  March 
9th,  1795,  and  was  written  by  Mrs.  White  to  a  member 
of  the  family,  who  was  away  from  home. 

It  seems  that  on  the  Saturday  night  previous,  March 
7th,  there  had  been  a  great  southerly  storm  which  had 
melted  the  snow  and  caused  a  great  freshet,  which  made 
Cypress  Street  impassable.  Rev.  Mr.  Tappan  of  Cam- 
bridge was  to  preach  in  the  First  Church  for  Rev.  Mr. 
Jackson,  who  was  then  out  of  health.  Not  knowing 
the  unsafe  condition  of  the  street,  or  "  the  New  Lane," 
as  ^it  was  then  called,  he  attempted  to  ford  the  torrent 
with  his  horse  and  chaise,  his  son  being  with  him.  But 
the  horse  went  off  the  bridge,  and  chaise  and  riders  were 
plunged  into  the  flood.  The  son  came  very  near  being 
drowned,  but  having  finally  struggled  out  of  his  predica- 
ment he  set  off  to  Captain  Croft's,  to  call  assistance. 


A   FLOOD  IN   CYPRESS   STREET.  310 

The  letter  goes  on  to  say  :  — 

"  Your  brother  has  just  come  in  from  Town  Meeting.  He 
says  that  Mr.  Jackson  told  him  that  after  Mr.  Tappan  had  sent 
his  son  to  call  assistance,  he  stayed  in  the  water  while  he  dis- 
engaged the  horse  from  the  carriage,  and  then  mounted  bare- 
backed, followed  his  son,  borrowed  a  saddle,  and  rode  round  by 
White  and  Sumner's  store  "  (at  the  foot  of  Walnut  Street). 

"  This  accident  happened  at  first  bell  ringing.  He  did  not 
get  to  Mr.  Jackson's  till  after  the  second  began.  He  was  so 
surprised  and  fatigued,  he  could  not  give  much  account  of  him- 
self, only  that  he  had  been  in  the  water.  Mr.  Jackson  dressed 
the  poor  unfortunate  man  in  a  suit  of  his  clothes,  but  as  his 
small  clothes  did  not  cover  his  knees,  he  was  obliged  to  wear 
his  wet  ones 

'•  David  Hyslop  said  he  was  very  sorry  he  did  not  send  to 
him  for  a  pair,  but  as  '  the  legs  of  the  lame  are  not  equal,'  if 
one  knee  had  been  covered  the  other  must  have  been  bare. 
But  he  dried  and  fixed  himself  as  well  as  he  could,  and  went 
clumping  into  meeting  in  borrowed  shoes  just  as  Mr.  Jackson 
had  done  his  first  prayer. 

"  Mr.  Jackson's  cloak  was  so  short  for  him  he  could  not 
look  very  buckish.  Although  there  were  some  circumstances  a 
little  diverting,  it  was  really  a  serious  affair.  Mr.  Jackson 
prayed  in  the  morning  and  at  night ;  both  times  he  returned 
thanks  that  they  were  preserved  when  in  imminent  danger,  and 
prayed  that  their  health  might  not  be  injured.  Mr.  Tappan 
put  his  notes  and  his  band  in  his  book  and  put  them  on  the 
cushion  behind  him  when  he  set  out  from  Cambridge,  but  the 
current  was  so  rapid  that  they  were  all  carried  off.  Notwith- 
standing, he  preached  two  excellent  sermons  from  notes  which 
he  happened  to  have  in  his  pocket.  The  chaise,  which  he 
borrowed  of  the  President,*  was  very  much  damaged.  It 
seemed  as  if  fire  and  water  were  against  them,  Sunday.  His 
son  stayed  at  home  in  the  forenoon,  to  dry  himself,  left  his 
shoes  in  the  sitting  room,  arid  went  out  to  the  kitchen  fire. 

*  Rev.  Dr.  Willard  was  President  of  Harvard  College  at  that  time. 


320  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

Meanwhile,  a  brand  fell  down  on  one  of  them  and  burnt  the 
heel  quarter  almost  up.  But  Mr.  Jackson  was  kind  enough  to 
look  up  one  that  answered,  so  that  he  followed  his  father  to 
church  in  the  afternoon." 

There  is  an  additional  appropriateness  in  the  name  of 
Tappan  Street  of  which  we  had  not  been  aware  till  the 
above  incident  suggested  it. 

In  Mr.  John  Heath's  family  were  two  old  slaves,  Cuff 
and  Kate,  and  one  Primus,  of  whom  various  anecdotes 
are  related.  Mr.  Heath,  who  was  fond  of  quizzing  Pri- 
mus, asked  him  one  day  which  was  the  heavier,  a  pound 
of  lead  or  a  pound  of  feathers. 

"  A  pound  of  lead,  Massa,"  said  Primus,  promptly. 
"  Course,  a  pound  of  lead  is  de  heaviest." 

A  laugh  ensued  at  Primus's  expense. 

"  Don't  you  b'lieve  it,  Massa  ?  You  go  stick  your 
head  in  de  fireplace  and  let  Primus  go  up  a  top  de  house 
and  drap  a  pound  ob  fedders  and  a  pound  ob  lead  down 
de  chimbley  on  your  head ;  den  see  which  de  heaviest." 

On  the  occasion  of  the  great  alarm  in  this  part  of  the 
town  in  Revolutionary  times,  occasioned  by  a  party  of 
British  "regulars,"  riding  out  into  Roxbury,  and  the 
announcement  being  made  that  they  were  at  "  church 
green,"  there  was  a  general  stampede  from  the  Heath 
house,  as  well  as  from  all  the  other  houses  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. Everybody,  white  and  black,  sought  a  hiding 
place  in  the  woods,  except  poor  old  Kate,  Cuff's  wife, 
who  was  too  old  and  infirm  to  run  away.  She  squeezed 
behind  the  tall,  old-fashioned  clock,  which  stood  in  a 
corner,  and  stayed  there  for  hours,  and  there  the  family 
found  her  when  they  returned.  The  only  article  carried 
off  by  the  family  for  safety  was  a  lag  of  salt,  which  was 
seized  by  one  of  the  female  members  of  the  household 
in  the  moment  of  flight. 


OLD-FASHIONED   VISITING.  321 

This  part  of  the  town  was  very  social  in  customs  in 
the  old  times,  and  the  quaint,  old-fashioned  style  of  visit- 
ing prevailed,  long  after  it  was  discontinued  in  the  more 
thickly  settled  portions  of  the  town.  Persons  now  living 
can  remember  when  it  was  the  fashion  to  send  a  child 
early  in  the  morning  with  her  mother's  "  compliments," 
to  sonie  neighbor,  and  say  that  "if  it  was  convenient, 
mother  would  come  and  spend  the  afternoon."  By  two 
o'clock,  the  visit  was  begun,  and  often  the  small  spinning 
wheel  was  carried,  instead  of  the  sewing,  but  how  the 
necessary  amount  of  talking  could  be  done  with  two  or 
three  spinning-wheels  in  motion,  we,  of  the  days  of  sew- 
ing machines,  are  at  a  loss  to  understand.  By  "  milking 
time,"  the  visit  was  over,  and  the  guests  gone  home  to 
their  chores  and  their  early  bed-time. 

It  is  easy  to  perceive,  when  familiar  with  our  early 
history,  as  a  people,  how  the  New  England  habit  of  talk- 
ing about  everybody  and  their  affairs  grew  up  as  a  nat- 
ural consequence  of  the  mode  of  life  and  the  state  of  the 
country.  With  no  holidays,  or  public  amusements,  and 
few  recreations  of  any  sort,  with  a  few  great  common 
interests,  as  the  church,  the  crops,  and  the  state  of  the 
country,  —  with  many  common  inconveniences  and  pri- 
vations growing  out  of  the  newness  of  the  country,  and 
the  difficulty  of  communication  with  England,  it  is  no 
wonder  that  when  they  met,  the  interest  or  the  misfor- 
tune of  one  neighbor,  which  was  the  interest  or  misfor- 
tune of  all,  was  the  common  subject  of  discussion. 

It  is  easy,  too,  to  perceive  how  the  very  habit  which 
grew  out  of  common  human  sympathy,  and  the  needs  of 
the  heart,  was  liable  to  perversion  by  envy  and  uncharita- 
bleness,  into  the  gossip  and  scandal  which  are  even  now  the 
bane  and  curse  of  thinly  settled  towns,  and  small  villages. 

Out  of   this   same  common  sympathy  and  need,  has 


322  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

grown  also  the  prompt,  quick,  willing,  helpful  spirit  which 
is  never  appealed  to  in  vain  for  a  case  of  real  need, 
whether  it  is  a  private  family  stranded  by  adverse  cir- 
cumstances, a  battle  which  has  struck  a  blow  to  every 
household  in  the  land,  or  a  burnt  city  which  stretches  out 
imploring  hands  for  help.  If  New  England  gossips  over 
her  tea-table,  not  the  less  does  she  empty  her  full  hands 
into  the  lap  of  the  needy,  and  help  the  struggling  up  into 
security  and  peace. 

The  journals  or  private  diaries,  kept  for  years  by  per- 
sons resident  in  this  town,  though  cumbered  with  many 
family  cares,  are,  a  faithful  transcript  of  the  daily  life 
which  made  the  women  of  those  times  strong  but  not  un- 
feminine,  and  left  them  no  leisure  to  seek  a  share  in  the 
government,  or  administration  of  public  affairs. 

Mr.  John  Heath  in  his  old  age  relinquished  his  farm  to 
his  son.  A  curious  old  deed  of  subsistence  is  still  pre- 
served in  which  are  specified  all  the  items  for  his  main- 
tenance. This  method  was  not  uncommon  in  former 
times,  and  seems  to  have  been  a  wise  provision  both  for 
parents  and  children.  Mr.  John  Heath  died  in  1804,  aged 
seventy-two. 

Mr.  Ebenezer  Heath,  the  only  son  of  Mr.  John  Heath, 
succeeded  his  father  as  proprietor  of  the  homestead  or 
farm.  He  married  Miss  Hannah  Williams  of  Roxbury, 
and  built  the  house  now  occupied  by  his  daughters.  The 
old  house  was  rented  for  many  years  to  a  succession  of 
tenants. 

One  of  the  daughters  of  Mr.  John  Heath  became  the 
wife  of  Dr.  John  Goddard  of  this  town,  who  settled  in 
Portsmouth,  N.  H. 

After  the  death  of  this  lady  he  married  a  second  time, 
then  a  third,  and  finally  for  his  fourth  and  last  wife  he 
returned  to  Brookline  and  took  one  from  the  same  house 


MRS.   EBENEZER   HEATH.  323 

whence  he  had  taken  his  first,  this  time  marrying  Anne, 
the  only  child  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  White.  This  lady  sur- 
vived her  husband  about  three  years,  but  not  her  venera- 
ble mother. 

The  wife  of  Mr.  Ebenezer  Heath  was  a  woman  of  more 
than  ordinary  ability,  and  great  strength  and  beauty  of 
character.  She  brought  up  a  family  of  nine  children,  and 
with  all  the  household  cares  which  a  farmer's  wife  neces- 
sarily had  in  those  days  (and  she  was  an  accomplished 
housekeeper)  she  found  time  for  the  improvement  of  her 
mind,  and  the  extracts  which  are  extant  in  her  own  hand- 
writing from  religious  and  other  books  which  she  read,  in- 
dicate her  good  taste,  her  humble,  conscientious,  and 
grateful  spirit,  and  her  tender  sympathies. 

She  also  kept  a  diary  of  noteworthy  local  events  with 
many  interesting  comments,  and  recorded  much  of  her 
own  personal  experience  and  reflection  thereon. 

The  latter  was  for  her  own  improvement  and  not  for  the 
eyes  of  others,  but  her  growth  in  the  traits  which  make 
up  a  beautiful  and  consistent  Christian  life,  is  uncon- 
sciously manifested  upon  almost  every  page.  Under  date 
of  July  9th,  1826,  she  speaks  of  a  party  of  friends  meet- 
ing "  to  celebrate  Lafayette  passing  by."  The  same 
week,  she  speaks  of  a  visit  from  her  daughter,  with  her 
husband  and  young  child,  in  which  great  pleasure  had 
been  anticipated,  but  which  was  turned  to  grief  by  the 
illness  and  death  of  the  little  one.  She  writes,  "  Dr. 
Pierce  returned  from  the  funeral  of  President  Adams, 
who  had  lived  in  this  world  ninety  years,  to  pray  with 
our  little  grandson  who  had  lived  but  forty-two  days." 

Long  years  after  Mrs.  Heath's  death,  a  voluntary  trib- 
ute was  paid  to  her  memory  and  her  worth,  by  one  who 
had  in  early  life,  being  an  orphan,  been  placed  in  the 
family  of  Mr.  Heath,  a  mere  child,  to  earn  his  board  on 


324  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

the  farm.  He  has  since  been  prospered  till  he  is  able  to 
ride  in  his  own  carriage.  The  little  kindly  acts  by  which 
this  excellent  woman  made  the  almost  friendless  little  boy 
her  devoted  friend,  were  also  strong  in  their  influence  upon 
him  in  his  manhood,  making  him  careful  for  the  rights 
and  the  feelings  of  those  in  his  own  employ  similarly  situ- 
ated. And  so  "  the  good,  men  do,  lives  after  them." 

A  great  affliction  came  upon  this  lovely  woman  in  the 
death  of  her  daughter  Mary,  a  young  lady  of  twenty. 

During  several  of  the  last  years  of  Mrs.  Heath's  life 
she  was  deprived  of  the  use  of  her  limbs  and  was  other- 
wise much  afflicted,  but  her  cheerful  and  beautiful  spirit 
was  triumphant  over  all  her  sorrows.  She  died  in  1832, 
aged  sixty-one  years.  It  was  a  little  singular  that  two 
other  ladies,  members  of  the  First  Church,  and  noted  in 
the  community  for  their  personal  worth,  were  removed 
by  death  the  same  year;  these  were  the  wife  of  Mr. 
Richard  Sullivan,  and  the  first  wife  of  Mr.  Benjamin 
Goddard.  Dr.  Pierce  remarked  that  "  the  loss  of  three 
such  women  was  enough  to  impoverish  any  church." 

Mr.  Charles  Heath,  the  eldest  son  of  Mr.  Eben  Heath, 
took  down  the  old  mansion  in  1838.  It  was  one  of  the 
substantial  square  houses  of  the  olden  time,  built  for  cen- 
turies, with  low  ceilings  and  narrow  windows  with  seats 
in  the  deep  recesses,  now  long  out  of  date.  A  fence  con- 
taining much  timber,  elaborately  constructed,  surrounded 
the  yard,  and  the  borders  were  hedged  with  box.  Mr. 
Heath  built  the  house  which  is  still  standing  and  now  oc- 
cupied by  Francis  Cabot,  the  same  year,  and  occupied  it 
many  years  himself. 

Mr.  Ebenezer  Heath  was  for  some  time  Town  Treas- 
urer. He  died  in  1845  at  the  age  of  eighty. 

The  late  Mr.  Charles  Heath  is  so  well  remembered 
that  scarcely  more  than  a  passing  notice  is  necessary,  yet 


THE  DARK   DAY.  325 

his  memory  deserves  the  tribute  of  recorded  worth.  Like 
his  excellent  mother  he  possessed  traits  of  character  which 
won  the  respect  and  esteem  of  all  who  knew  him,  and 
though  his  quiet  and  retiring  disposition  prevented  his 
bearing  great  public  responsibilities,  he  was  none  the  less 
an  honored  and  valued  citizen.  His  death  called  forth 
expressions  of  sincere  regret  from  those  who  were  not 
bound  to  him  by  the  ties  of  kindred,  as  well  as  from  those 
who  claimed  him  as  their  own.  He  left  the  sum  of  two 
thousand  dollars  in  trust  to  be  used  for  the  poor  of  the 
First  Parish,  or  for  such  persons  as  his  executors  deemed 
worthy,  they  not  being  beggars  or  common  paupers. 

Among  ancient  papers  of  the  Heath  family  there  is  an 
account  of  the  famous  "  dark  day."  It  is  uncertain  whose 
handwriting  it  may  be,  but  it  was  evidently  written  im- 
mediately after  the  event. 

'•'•May  19th,  1780.  Being  Friday  there  were  several  small 
showers  in  the  morning.  About  three  o'clock  the  Clouds  began 
to  have  a  yellowish  appearance,  this  brassy  Colour  kept  in- 
creasing. A  little  before  Ten,  it  began  to  look  dark,  and  by 
twelve  o'clock  we  were  obliged  to  light  up  candles.  It  was  as 
dark  as  at  an  hour  after  sundown.  At  one  the  darkness  began 
to  abate,  and  by  half-past  three  the  clouds  blew  over  and  the 
afternoon  was  as  pleasant  as  usual. 

"  The  night  following  was  as  uncommonly  dark  as  the  day. 
Before  nine  o'clock  there  was  a  total  privation  of  light ;  though 
the  moon  was  but  just  past  the  full  it  did  not  give  one  ray  of 
light  till  it  was  more  than  three  hours  high.  People  that  were 
not  above  thirty  rods  from  home  could  not  get  home  without 
the  greatest  difficulty. 

"  There  were  various  opinions  about  the  darkness.  Some 
were  exceedingly  surprised  and  tho't  the  Conclusion  of  all  things 
was  come.  Others  that  a  Comet  passed  between  us  and  the 
sun.  Others  again  that  it  was  a  large  body  of  Smoke  that 


326  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

came  from  the  woods  that  was  on  fire  for  many  miles  together 
at  the  westward.  Others  that  it  was  a  large  Collection  of 
Clouds  and  Vapors  drove  together  by  Contrary  Winds." 

On  the  site  of  the  house  built  a  few  years  since  by 
George  Bacon,  formerly  stood  a  large  and  handsome 
house,  owned  and  occupied  by  Hon.  Stephen  Higginson, 
a  member  of  the  legislature  in  the  last  century  under 
"the  old  Confederation."  His  descendants  have  lived 
in  the  town  almost  constantly  since  that  time.  Hon. 
Stephen  Higginson  died  in  1828,  at  the  age  of  eighty- 
five.  The  house  was  occupied  for  several  years  by  Mr. 
Appleton,  then  by  Dr.  Warren,  and  was  finally  sold  to 
Mr.  Bacon,  who  removed  the  old  structure  and  built  the 
present  house. 

Nearly  opposite  this  house  stood  a  house  built  before 
the  last  century,  by  Joseph  Gardner,  one  of  that  numer- 
ous family  of  whom  an  account  has  previously  been  given. 
Deacon  Joseph  White  was  the  next  occupant,  and  he 
died  in  1777.  His  son  Samuel  (the  one  of  whom  an 
account  has  been  previously  given),  succeeded  him  as 
owner,  and  then  for  a  long  period  the  house  was  owned 
and  occupied  by  Jonathan  Jackson.  General  Simon 
Elliot  next  bought  the  place,  and  built  the  present  house 
in  1824.  Simon  Elliot  Greene  succeeded  him,  and  more 
recently  the  late  J.  Sullivan  Warren,  who  was  held  in 
high  esteem  in  Brookline,  as  also  in  Boston,  for  many 
acts  of  liberality,  and  his  general  benevolence  of  char- 
acter. This  gentleman  left  a  sum  of  money  to  be  ex- 
pended in  beautifying  the  streets  of  this  town  with  shade 
trees. 

On  the  narrow  lane  which  here  crosses  from  Heath  to 
Boylston  Street,  is  the  town  "  Pound,"  and  it  is  generally 
known  as  "  Pound  Lane."  This  continues  across  Boyl- 
ston Street  and  to  Beacon  Street,  at  the  upper  part  of 


POUND   LANE.  327 

the  new  reservoir.  Possibly  parts  of  it  are  traceable 
further. 

It  is  a  part  of  the  old  highway  from  Dedham  to 
"  Cambridge  Village,"  and  originally  led  to  a  village  of 
Elliot's  "  praying  Indians,"  who  lived  at  the  falls  of 
Charles  River,  between  Newton  and  Watertown.  It  has 
recently  been  widened  and  graded,  and  is  now  called 
"  Reservoir  Lane."  It  was  one  of  the  wildest  and  most 
picturesque  lanes  to  be  found  in  the  country,  and  it  would 
be  difficult  to  convince  one  who  had  never  explored  it 
that  such  a  place  could  be  found  within  six  miles  of  the 
State  House.  It  was  narrow,  winding,  rocky,  and  steep  ; 
up  hill  and  down  dale,  bordered  with  wild  briers,  and 
gay  with  wild  flowers,  or  attractive  with  berries,  accord- 
ing to  the  season.  Two  or  three  houses,  difficult  of  ac- 
cess, built  within  fifteen  or  twenty  years,  stand  along 
this  lane,  that  was  so  secluded.  Even  now  it  is  a  retired 
and  rustic  place,  but  the  great  Reservoir  is  built  and  all 
the  world  goes  to  see  it,  and  the  little  wild  lane  begins 
to  be  a  thoroughfare. 

To  return  to  Pound  Lane  —  there  was  little  use  for  a 
Town  Pound,  comparatively,  till  about  the  year  1836, 
when  Mr.  Samuel  Philbrick  was  instrumental  in  causing 
the  town  to  pass  a  by-law,  forbidding  animals  to  be  pas- 
tured along  the  streets.  Previous  to  that  time,  cows, 
horses,  and  often  swine,  roamed  at  large,  and  grazed 
along  the  highways.  Every  avenue  and  driveway  was 
necessarily  closed  with  a  gate  to  prevent  the  depredations 
of  these  marauders,  and  if  a  gate  was  accidentally  left 
open,  it  was  fortunate  for  the  owner  of  the  premises  if 
his  grounds  were  not  invaded,  and  his  fruit  trees  or  gar- 
den damaged  before  the  mischief  was  discovered. 

Many  persons  fearing  lest  they  should  be  called  upon 
for  damages  for  trespass,  kept  their  children  out  of  school, 


328  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

lounging  by  the  roadsides  to  watch  their  cattle,  and  little 
barefooted  boys  and  girls,  with  their  cows,  were  a  com- 
mon feature  of  the  landscape. 

It  would  naturally  be  supposed  that  so  great  a  public 
improvement  as  that  proposed  by  Mr.  Philbrick,  would 
have  been  hailed  with  delight  by  our  townspeople,  but 
this  was  not  the  case.  The  most  formidable  opposition 
came  from  the  very  people  best  able  to  provide  pasturage 
for  their  live  stock,  on  their  own  grounds.  Men  who 
owned  scores  of  acres  of  land,  raised  an  outcry  about 
being  defrauded  of  their  rights,  and  those  who  owned  a 
solitary  cow  and  no  land,  lamented  the  hard-heartedness 
of  the  rich  who  denied  the  poor  the  privilege  of  the  way- 
side grass.  But  the  law  was  enforced,  and  many  an 
angry  man  made  an  irksome  journey  to  the  Pound,  and 
reluctantly  paid  the  necessary  fee  to  get  poor  Brindle  or 
Dobbin  released  from  "durance  vile."  Remarks  de- 
cidedly uncomplimentary  to  Mr.  Philbrick  were  freely 
indulged,  but  law  triumphed,  and  gates  ceased  to  be  a 
necessity. 

West  of  Pound  Lane,  on  the  north  side  of  Heath 
Street,  was  the  extensive  farm  of  Deacon  Benjamin  White, 
son  of  Joseph  White  and  brother  of  Samuel.  He  was 
one  of  the  original  founders  of  the  town  and  the  church, 
and  is  sometimes  called  "  Ensign  "  Benjamin  White. 

On  this  farm  was  the  ancient  house,  which  was  taken 
down  in  1809,  between  the  floors  of  which  was  found  the 
paper,  of  which  a  copy  has  been  given,  containing  the 
names  of  all  who  were  seated  in  the  meeting-house  in 
1719.  There  were  four  Benjamin  Whites  in  succession 
from  this  ancestry,  but  Moses  White  occupied  the  house 
last  mentioned,  after  his  father,  and  his  son  of  the  same 
name  after  him.  It  was  purchased  from  him  in  1792, 
by  Hon.  Jonathan  Mason,  who  had  previously  lived  in 


POLITICS    OF    1798.  329 

the  old  Goddard  or  Gardner  house,  opposite  the  Reser- 
voir. He  was  a  senator  in  Congress.  He  died  in  1831. 

An  allusion  to  the  politics  of  those  times,  occurs  in  an 
old  letter  dated  in  1798,  written  by  a  lady  of  that  vicin- 
ity. 

The  writer,  mentioning  two  of  her  neighbors  who 
called,  says :  — 

'"  They  spent  the  evening  talking  upon  Politics.  These  trou- 
blesome times  seem  to  take  up  every  person's  attention.  I  am 
almost  sick  of  hearing  the  name  of  Federalists  and  Jacobins. 
We  live  in  the  midst  of  both.  The  upper  and  lower  part  of 
the  Town  are  what  people  call  Jacobins.  They  say  those  that 
live  in  the  middle  of  the  town  are  influenced  by  Mr.  Mason 
and  Mr.  Cabot."  [Hon.  George  Cabot  at  that  time  lived  on 
the  place  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of  the  late  Samuel  Goddard.] 

"  I  am  sorry  for  'Squire  Gardner  who  said  he  wanted  to 
please  everybody,  for  he  did  not  please  anybody.  At  Town 
Meeting  he  stood  in  the  broad  aisle  and  durst  not  go  one  side 
or  the  other  till  somebody  told  him  to  go  one  side  or  the  other, 
and  at  last  he  went  on  Dr.  Aspinwall's  side.  He  has  said  since 
that  he  was  sorry  he  went  to  Town  Meeting." 

The  Federalists,  it  will  be  remembered,  were  the  party 
who  desired  to  reelect  Washington,  but  as  he  positively 
declined  a  third  term  of  office,  they  had  unanimously 
nominated  and  elected  John  Adams,  whose  political 
opinions  were  those  of  Washington.  The  Jacobins  or 
Republicans  believing  the  other  party  less  devoted  than 
themselves  to  the  cause  of  popular  liberty,  had  declared 
their  preference  for  Thomas  Jefferson,  and  the  result  had 
been  the  election  of  Adams  to  the  Presidency,  and  Jeffer- 
son as  Vice-president. 

Hostilities  between  France  and  the  United  States  were 
then  impending,  and  party  feeling,  instead  of  subsiding, 

22 


330  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

as  is  usually  the  case  after  an  election  is  over,  was  ram- 
pant, and  men  and  principles  were  handled  without 
gloves,  by  everybody,  from  statesmen  and  their  compeers, 
down  to  school-boys. 

The  people  in  the  "middle  of  the  town,"  whom  the 
lady  intimates  to  have  been  influenced  by  Mr.  Mason 
and  Mr.  Cabot,  were  no  doubt  Federalists,  as  Mr.  Mason 
had  served  in  the  Senate,  under  Washington,  and  was 
his  personal  friend  and  admirer,  and  Mr.  Adams,  as  we 
have  before  stated,  was  a  visitor  at  Mr.  Mason's  house. 

An  incident  is  connected  with  Mr.  Mason's  old  house 
which  is  somewhat  amusing.  A  colored  woman,  noted 
as  a  notorious  thief,  and  a  white  girl  in  company,  called 
at  the  house  begging  one  day,  and  took  the  opportunity 
to  steal  some  silver  spoons.  Mr.  Mason  had  just  before 
hired  a  new  coachman.  The  man  had  been  out,  and  on 
returning  to  the  house  was  made  acquainted  with  the 
loss.  He  instantly  volunteered  to  go  after  the  culprits 
and  recover  the  lost  silver,  for  he  said  that  he  had  no- 
ticed them  as  he  came  along  the  road,  digging  dandelions 
in  a  field  beside  the  way.  It  so  happened  that  the  per- 
sons whom  the  man  saw,  were  indeed,  by  an  odd  coinci- 
dence, a  colored  woman  and  a  white  girl,  but  they  were 
from  Mr.  Heath's  family,  Sukey,  a  trusty  servant  of  theirs, 
and  a  young  girl  who  was  staying  there. 

The  man  made  all  possible  speed  down  the  road,  and 
there  in  the  field  were  the  supposed  vagrants.  He  jumped 
over  the  wall,  and  seizing  them  by  the  arms,  ordered 
them  to  deliver  up  the  silver  they  had  stolen.  As  the 
terrified  women  stoutly  denied  any  knowledge  of  what 
he  meant,  he  compelled  them  to  pour  out  their  dande- 
lions, and  to  empty  their  pockets,  every  few  minutes 
giving  them  a  grip  and  a  shake.  No  silver  was  to  be 
found,  however,  and  he  proceeded  to  search  their  clothing, 


HON.   THEODORE   LYMAN'S   PLACE.  331 

the  frightened  creatures  all  the  while  protesting  and  as- 
serting their  innocence.  Finding  nothing,  and  being 
shown  the  house  where  they  lived,  the  self-made  detec- 
tive finally  let  them  go.  Their  anger  and  fright  at  being 
taken  for  thieves,  and  the  whole  ludicrous  affair,  made 
passing  entertainment  enough  for  the  young  people  of 
the  neighborhood. 

In  1822,  Benjamin  Guild,  Esq.,  purchased  the  house 
which  Hon.  Jonathan  Mason  had  occupied.  In  1841,  it 
was  sold  to  Hon.  Theodore  Lyman,  formerly  mayor  of 
Boston,  who  took  down  the  old  house  and  built  the  pres- 
ent fine  mansion.  The  beautiful  trees  which  shade  the 
avenue,  were  set  out  by  Mr.  Mason.  Under  the  care  of 
the  various  owners,  all  of  whom  have  been  gentlemen  of 
taste,  these  beautiful  trees  and  the  fine  lawn  have  been 
cultivated  and  brought  to  their  present  luxuriance.  West 
of  the  house,  the  summit  of  the  gradually  sloping  hill 
commands  a  magnificent  prospect ;  in  clear  weather,  Wa- 
chusett,  Watatick,  and  other  mountains  being  distinctly 
visible. 

A  little  beyond  this  house,  on  the  opposite  side  of 
Heath  Street,  formerly  stood  the  school-house  for  this 
part  of  the  town.  It  was  a  one  story  wooden  building, 
low  in  the  walls,  and  with  few  conveniences.  In  this  for 
many  years,  a  school  was  kept  by  a  female  teacher  in 
summer,  and  by  a  male  teacher  in  winter.  In  this  build- 
ing the  Worcesters  were  for  several  years  employed  as 
teachers.  It  was  small,  and  became  densely  crowded 
with  pupils  long  before  a  new  one  was  built,  though  it 
was  only  a  primary  school.  The  new  school-house,  for 
both  grammar  and  primary  schools,  which  was  thought 
adequate  for  many  years,  has  already  been  enlarged  to 
meet  present  needs. 

On  the  north  side  of  the  street  the  next  house  of  olden 


332  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

times  was  owned  by  Peter  Gardner,  another  of  the  Gard- 
ner family,  formerly  so  numerous  in  this  part  of  the 
town.  There  were  five  houses  occupied  and  owned  by 
Gardners  as  early  as  1688,  of  whom  Peter  was  one. 

After  him  it  was  owned  by  Benjamin  White,  who 
died  in  1777,  at  the  age  of  70.  He  was  one  of  the  Se- 
lectmen for  many  years.  His  son  Benjamin  occupied 
the  house  for  several  years,  but  in  1790  he  took  down 
the  old  house,  which  had  been  standing  more  than  a  hun- 
dred years,  and  built  the  present  large  square  house  upon 
the  same  site.* 

He  died  in  1814,  and  the  large  estate  which  had  de- 
scended through  three  generations  became  now  the  posses- 
sion of  the  fourth  Benjamin  White.  He  died  in  1839,  and 
the  estate  passed  into  other  hands. 

West  of  this  house  about  half  a  mile  further  on,  upon 
the  other  side  of  the  street,  was  a  very  old  house,  which 
was  once  the  property  of  Joseph  Adams.  Still  further 
west  was  another  owned  by  Nathaniel  Stedman  when 
Brookline  first  became  a  town.  Both  these  houses  were 
bought  by  one  of  the  Benjamin  Whites,  and  pulled  down 
on  account  of  their  great  age. 

The  next  house  on  the  same  side  of  the  street  was  also 
once  the  property  of  Nathaniel  Stedman,  and  was  sold 
by  him  to  Ebenezer  Sargent.  It  was  purchased  of  him 
by  Deacon  Winchester  (of  whom  more  hereafter),  and 
finally  became  the  property  of  the  same  Benjamin  White 
who  seems  to  have  owned  a  goodly  portion  of  this  part 
of  Brookline.  It  was  built  before  1740. 

The  next  house  upon  the  opposite  side,  that  built  by 
Capt.  Benjamin  Gardner,  was  described  in  the  article  on 
the  Gardner  family. 

*  This  has  recently  become  the  property  of  Mr.  Cabot,  who  has  built  an  ele- 
gant house  upon  the  hill  west  of  it. 


ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  333 

The  next  house  of  any  note,  going  westward,  is  the  one 
owned  for  some  years  by  Mark  Sheafe.  This  old  house 
•  has  quite  a  history. 

Among  the  earliest  settlers  of  the  town  were  John  and 
Josiah  Winchester.  They  were  of  Welsh  origin.  Elha- 
nan  and  Henry  Winchester  appear  in  the  second  genera- 
tion. Of  Captain  John  Winchester  we  gave  a  sketch  in 
an  article  on  Harvard  Street.  Elhanan  Winchester, 
above  alluded  to,  lived  in  the  house  there  mentioned,  and 
was  a  member  of  the  First  Church,  of  which  his  ancestors 
had  been  the  founders.  This  man  and  his  son  of  the  same 
name,  for  many  years  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  the  relig- 
ious annals  of  this  town  and  vicinity. 

Mr.  Winchester  was  married  three  times  ;  the  first  wife 
left  no  children,  the  second  left  six,  and  the  third  nine. 

In  the  year  1744,  when  Mr.  Winchester  was  a  young 
man,  there  was  quite  an  excitement  in  the  First  Church,  of 
which  Rev.  Mr.  Allen  was  pastor,  and  several  persons  left 
it,  and  established  an  order  which  they  called  "  New 
Lights."  They  held  worship  in  private  houses,  sometimes 
in  the  lower  part  of  the  town  in  the  house  of  Nathaniel 
Shepherd,  on  what  is  now  the  Public  Library  ground. 
(This  was  before  the  Dana  family  owned  it.)  In  the  upper 
part  of  the  town  they  met  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Winchester. 

On  Washington  Street  they  sometimes  met  at  the 
house  of  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Corey.  They  had  a  preacher, 
Mr.  Jonathan  Hyde,  for  about  thirty  years.  Many  of  the 
laymen  became  exhorters,  and  among  these  was  Mr.  Win- 
chester. In  1751  his  first  child,  Elhanan,  was  born.  He 
was  a  most  remarkable  child  from  his  earliest  yeai's. 
When  only  five  years  of  age  he  could  read  any  English 
book  with  ease  and  fluency.  He  was  a  delicate,  thought- 
ful, gentle  child,  caring  little  for  play,  but  devouring  books 
with  the  keenest  avidity.  The  few  books  then  adapted 


834  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINK. 

to  children  were  entirely  inadequate  for  the  cravings  of  his 
mind,  and  he  read  and  studied  the  Bible  till  his  knowledge 
of  it  was  wonderful. 

Mr.  Winchester  was  not  able  to  afford  other  than  com- 
mon school  instruction  for  his  remarkable  little  boy,  and 
he  soon  mastered  all  that  he  could  obtain  from  this  source. 
He  then  obtained  a  Latin  grammar,  and  with  one  evening's 
study  qualified  himself  to  join  a  class  who  had  been  study- 
ing several  weeks.  When  a  little  older  he  acquired 
with  wonderful  facility,  French,  Greek,  and  Hebrew. 

An  instance  of  his  remarkable  memory  is  stated  by  his 
biographer.*  He  had  attended  church  one  Sabbath  with 
his  father,  where  the  building  was  in  an  unfinished  state. 
(This  was  probably  the  old  meeting-house  at  Newton 
known  as  "  Father  Grafton's.")  The  father  sat  below 
stairs,  and  the  little  boy  in  the  gallery.  The  keen  eyes  of 
the  strict  parent,  however,  detected  the  child  gazing  about 
the  building  apparently  engrossed  with  its  details. 

On  returning  home  he  called  him  to  account  for  it, 
charging  him  with  paying  no  attention  to  the  sermon. 
The  boy  in  self-defense  immediately  named  the  text  and 
the  place  where  it  was  to  be  found.  The  father  however 
was  not  satisfied,  and  the  boy  proceeded  to  name  the 
"heads"  of  the  sermon,  and  repeated  much  that  the 
preacher  had  said.  The  stern  countenance  of  the  father 
relaxed  into  something  of  complacency  as  the  evidence  of 
his  son's  attention  and  good  memory  was  established,  and 
the  boy  taking  courage,  continued,  — 

"  And  now,  father,  if  you  will  not  be  offended,  I  will 
tell  you  the  number  of  people,  and  the  number  of  beams, 
posts,  braces,  rafters,  and  panes  of  glass  there  were  in  the 
meeting-house.  I  counted  them  all,  and  remembered  the 
text  too." 

*  Rev.  Edwin  M.  Stone. 


REV.   ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  335 

The  father  with  difficulty  repressed  a  smile,  but  assum- 
ing a  look  of  gravity  he  warned  the  child  to  "give 
hereafter  undivided  attention  to  religious  exercises  when 
in  a  place  of  worship." 

This  remarkable  child  was  overwhelmed  at  the  loss  of 
his  mother,  who  was  a  most  affectionate  and  excellent 
woman,  when  he  was  only  eight  years  of  age.  In  his 
later  years  he  always  spoke  of  her  with  an  intensity  of 
affection  and  respect. 

It  became  inconvenient  after  a  time  for  the  New  Lights 
to  meet  from  house  to  house,  and  Mr.  Winchester,  who 
had  been  made  deacon,  was  assisted  by  his  religious  breth- 
ren to  build  a  large  house  which  should  contain  a  hall  or 
apartment  convenient  for  their  use.  This  was  the  house 
long  known  as  "  Richards'  Hotel,"  afterwards  as  the 
Sheaf e  place,  and  now  occupied  by  many  Irish  tenants. 

In  this  house  the  New  Lights  worshipped  undisturbed. 
After  a  time,  however,  young  Winchester,  who  had  made  a 
formal  profession  of  religion  when  about  eighteen  years  of 
age,  became  a  Baptist.  His  influence  with  his  father  was 
so  great  that  he  too  left  the  New  Lights  and  joined  the 
Baptists  soon  after.  The  work  of  disintegration  went  on, 
and  the  sect  was  broken  up,  some  joining  the  Congrega- 
tionalists,  and  some  other  sects. 

In  1769  young  Winchester  was  married  to  Alice 
Rogers  of  Rowley,  Mass.  Soon  after  this  he  entered 
upon  the  public  work  of  the  ministry,  staying  for  a  short 
time  at  Canterbury,  Conn.,  and  afterwards  removing  to 
Rehoboth,  Mass.  At  this  place  was  a  Baptist  church  of 
open  communion  practice.  Mr.  Winchester's  youth,  his 
eloquence,  his  Avonderful  memory  and  zeal,  attracted 
crowds  ;  a  revival  followed,  and  he  gathered  a  new  church 
of  seventy  members. 

In  less  than  a  year  he  so  far  changed  his  views  as  to 


336  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

believe  in  close  communion,  and  was  excluded  from  his 
church  for  breach  of  covenant.  This  produced  a  great 
commotion,  and  a  council  was  called  which  decided  that 
Mr.  Winchester  had  left  an  error  to  embrace  the  truth. 
He  soon  became  one  of  the  most  successful  and  popular 
preachers  in  his  sect,  returned  to  Brookline,  and  preached 
among  his  old  friends,  till  he  preached  nearly  all  the  New 
Lights  into  the  close  communion  Baptist  faith.  It  was' 
at  this  time  that  his  father  joined  this  sect. 

The  next  year,  1774,  he  decided  to  visit  the  South. 
On  this  visit  he  received  a  call  from  a  church  at  Welch 
Neck,  S.  C.,  to  become  its  pastor.  He  accepted  the  call, 
and  after  a  short  stay  returned  for  his  wife  whom  he  had 
left  in  Massachusetts.  When  they  arrived  at  Fairfax, 
Va.,  Mrs.  Winchester  was  taken  sick,  and  being  unable 
to  accompany  him  he  went  on  and  resumed  his  duties 
with  his  church,  leaving  his  wife  in  the  care  of  a  friend. 
The  following  spring  he  returned  to  carry  her  to  his 
southern  home.  But  when  he  arrived  it  was  too  late. 
She  was  laid  away  in  her  last  rest,  and  he  saw  her  no 
more.  He  did  not  return  at  once  to  his  people,  but  came 
to  Boston  to  visit  his  old  friends,  and  spend  the  summer. 
During  this  summer  he  preached  for  Dr.  Stedman.  Be- 
fore autumn  he  had  visited  Rehoboth  and  married  Miss 
Sarah  Peck,  one  of  his  former  parishioners.  He  returned 
in  the  autumn  to  his  church,  where  he  was  welcomed  with 
great  joy,  —  a  revival  occurred,  and' forty  persons  were 
baptized,  among  whom  was  Mrs.  Winchester.  He  was  then 
in  the  full  tide  of  success  and  popularity,  and  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  great  domestic  happiness.  In  less  than  a  year 
from  his  marriage  he  was  again  bereaved,  and  himself 
prostrated  with  a  fever  which  nearly  cost  him  his  life. 

The  next  year  he  was  married  again  to  a  young  lady 
of  his  own  parish,  and  in  less  than  a  year  she  too  was  no 


REV.   ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  337 

more.  Mr.  Winchester  often  spoke  of  her  as  "  one  of  the 
sweetest  tempered  women  he  ever  saw." 

He  bore  his  solitude  two  years}  and  then  married  a 
widow  of  Philadelphia.  In  less  than  two  years  she  had 
followed  her  predecessors.  Mr.  Winchester's  friends, 
after  this  unhappy  experience,  advised  him  never  again  to 
enter  into  a  matrimonial  alliance,  but  he  thought  it  best 
for  a  clergyman  to  be  married,  and  after  a  year  or  two 
he  married  for  the  fifth  time  —  taking  a  widow  lady  of 
Philadelphia,  who  led  him  an  unhappy  life  during  the  rest 
of  his  days. 

In  1780  he  was  called  to  Philadelphia,  where  he  drew 
throngs,  till  the  house  was  insufficient  to  contain  them, 
and  even  St.  Paul's,  then  the  largest  church  in  the  city, 
was  obtained,  and  immediately  filled  to  overflowing. 

Sometime  before  this  Mr.  Winchester  had  met  with 
"  Siegvolk's  Everlasting  Gospel,"  which  held  forth  and 
illustrated  the  doctrine  of  Restoration,  or  what  is  now 
commonly  called  Universalism.  He  was  half  a  convert  to 
these  views  when  he  was  preaching  with  such  wonderful 
effect  in  Philadelphia.  When  it  became  a  settled  con- 
viction in  his  mind  that  these  views  were  true,  he 
preached  them  without  reservation.  This  of  course  pro- 
duced a  furore,  and  the  crowds  who  listened  were  divided 
into  warm  friends  and  bitter  persecutors.  It  would  be 
amusing  were  it  not  lamentable,  to  note  the  change  of 
sentiment  which  will  seize  and  overpower  one's  best 
friends,  in  the  bitterness  engendered  by  diversities  of  relig- 
ious belief.  Some,  seeming  to  consider  themselves  cus- 
todians of  the  truth,  resent  it  as  a  personal  affront  if  a 
friend  honestly  avows  different  sentiments,  and  many  who 
claim  in  these  modern  times  to  be  the  most  liberal  in 
their  views,  are  the  most  rancorous  in  their  feelings  when 
one  of  their  number  goes  over  to  another  sect.  It 


338  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

amounts  to  just  this,  "  Believe  what  you  please  and  call 
yourself  of  our  sect,  and  you  shall  be  popular,  but  take 
another  name  and  work  with  another  sect,  and  though 
your  sentiments  be  lofty,  and  your  life  pure,  you  shall  eat 
the  bread  of  persecution,  and  drink  the  waters  of  bitter- 
ness." It  is  also  doubly  rancorous,  this  spirit  of  sectarian 
hate,  when  the  object  of  it  has  been  a  man  of  eminence 
in  his  own  sect.  We  see  frequent  illustrations  of  it  in 
our  own  day.  In  Mr.  Winchester's  time  it  was  tenfold 
worse. 

Rev.  John  Murray  had  been  preaching  the  doctrine  of 
Universal  Salvation  ten  years,  and  quite  an  extensive  cor- 
respondence had  been  going  on  between  him  and  Mr. 
Winchester  before  they  met.  Dr.  De  Benneville,  the  first 
preacher  of  those  views  in  this  country,  of  French  parent- 
age, was  also  Mr.  Winchester's  friend.  Dr.  De  Benne- 
ville had  been  imprisoned  in  Calais  and  afterwards  in 
Normandy  for  preaching  his  views,  and  with  a  fellow 
pi'eacher,  Durant,  was  sentenced  for  execution.  His  com- 
panion suffered  the  penalty,  but  he  was  reprieved,  and 
finally  set  at  liberty,  and  after  preaching  in  Germany  and 
Holland,  settled  in  this  country,  where  he  lived  to  a  great 
age.  Mr.  Winchester's  acquaintance  with  these  two  em- 
inent men  of  his  own  faith,  led  him  to  desire  to  preach  in 
Europe.  He  went  to  London  in  1787,  where  he  met  with 
coldness  and  opposition  at  first,  but  his  hearers  continued 
to  increase,  and  one  place  after  another  of  larger  size  was 
required  till  he  preached  with  wonderful  success  in  the 
Parliament-Court  Chapel.  Mr.  Winchester  remained  in 
England  nearly  seven  years,  and  then  went  to  France  for 
brief  visit.  He  returned  to  Boston  in  1794,  and  immedi- 
ately to  Brookline.  He  was  received  with  affection  and 
respect  by  our  townspeople,  to  their  credit  be  it  said, 
though  probably  scarcely  a  person  in  the  town  held  the 


REV.   ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  339 

views  which  he  did.  But  his  personal  popularity  and 
the  real  respect  upon  which  it  was  based,  overcame  relig- 
ious opposition.  The  next  day  being  Sunday,  he  at- 
tended the  First  Church.  In  the  evening,  though  his 
arrival  was  so  recent  and  there  was  so  little  time  to  make 
it  known,  he  preached  to  a  large  audience  at  the  "  Punch 
Bowl  Village."  General  Heath  of  Roxbury,  and  many 
others  from  that  place  were  among  his  auditors.  He 
preached  during  that  autumn  in  many  private  houses  in 
Brookline,  Newton,  and  Cambridge,  as  well  as  in  many 
churches  of  various  denominations,  and  "  wherever  he 
went,  large  and  delighted  audiences  hung  upon  the  sound 
of  his  instructive  voice."  Among  his  converts  at  this 
time  was  his  aged  father,  who  seemed  to  follow  the  lead 
of  his  gifted  son,  from  the  excess  of  love  and  pride  which 
he  bore  towards  him. 

The  celebrated  Dr.  Benjamin  Rush  of  Philadelphia 
was  one  of  the  most  intimate  friends  of  Rev.  Mr.  Win- 
chester. Much  of  the  correspondence  which  passed  be- 
tween them  is  preserved,  and  is  of  interest  both  on  theo- 
logical and  political  matters,  for  both  held  similar  views 
on  religious  themes,  and  were  ardent  lovers  of  American 
ideas  and  institutions.  Mr.  Winchester  \vas  in  England 
during  the  stormy  times  in  Europe,  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  last  century,  and  his  observation  there,  led  him  to 
prize  more  highly  than  ever  the  newly-established  Repub- 
lican form  of  government  of  the  United  States  which  was 
then  threatened  with  difficulty  with  France.  He  deeply 
lamented  the  part  which  England  took  in  that  war,  and 
rejoiced  in  the  neutrality  preserved  by  this  country,  and 
its  steady  gain  in  prosperity. 

As  soon  as  his  visit  to  Brookline  and  vicinity  was  over, 
he  visited  Western  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut,  preach- 
ing in  many  towns.  He  also  wrote  a  "Defense  of  Revela- 


340  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

tion  "  in  answer  to  Thomas  Paine's  "  Age  of  Reason,"  an 
excellent  work,  as  an  answer  to  infidel  opinions,  and  a 
strong  weapon  not  for  his  own  sect  alone,  but  for  all  be- 
lievers in  revealed  truth.  This  was  reprinted  in  London 
within  two  years  afterwards. 

Early  in  the  following  year,  1795,  Mr.  Winchester 
started  on  a  tour  to  Philadelphia,  stopping  on  the  way  at 
Providence,  where  he  preached  in  the  Baptist  Church  to 
a  crowded  assembly.  Having  proceeded  to  New  York  he 
was  detained  there  two  or  three  weeks  by  the  illness  of 
his  wife,  and  in  a  letter  mentions  an  interview  with  Hon. 
John  Jay.  He  says  :  — 

"  Of  public  news  I  need  not  inform  you.  You  will  see  by  the 
papers  the  clamors  against  the  treaty  and  against  Mr.  Jay.  I 
was  this  morning  with  Mr.  Jay,  and  happening  to  mention  these 
vexatious  clamors,  he  replied,  '  It  was  what  I  expected,  but  my 
trust  is  in  God.  I  know  that  He  rules  and  orders  everything ; 
and  I  shall  endeavor  to  go  on  in  the  way  of  my  duty  and  rest 
all  events  in  his  hands.'  This  speech  he  made  with  such  manly 
dignity,  that  his  very  manner  charmed  me  as  well  as  the  excel- 
lence of  the  speech  itself." 

Mr.  Winchester  preached  to  crowds  in  the  Circus  in 
New  York  during  his  stay  there,  and  a  subscription  was 
started  to  build  him  a  house  of  worship,  but  he  proceeded 
to  Philadelphia  as  soon  as  his  wife's  health  would  permit, 
and  spent  that  autumn  and  winter  preaching  to  his  former 
people.  Here  he  published  a  volume  of  hymns.  In  Feb- 
ruary he  was  attacked  with  a  severe  hemorrhage  of  the 
lungs,  and  his  friend,  Dr.  Rush,  was  his  medical  adviser. 
He  so  far  recovered  as  to  go  to  New  York  the  following 
June.  This  year  he  published  a  "  Political  Catechism," 
at  the  suggestion  of  Hon.  Timothy  Pickering.  This  work 
passed  through  many  editions,  and  Governor  Jay  interested 


P.EV.   ELHANAN   WINCHESTER.  341 

himself  much  in  its  circulation.  It  was  adapted  for  use 
in  high  schools  and  colleges,  and  was  designed  to  give 
instruction  in  true  principles  of  government  and  liberty. 

The  following  autumn,  on  his  way  north,  Mr.  Winches- 
ter stopped  in  Hartford,  at  the  residence  of  a  friend.  He 
was  still  pale  from  his  severe  illness,  but  able  to  walk  out 
and  to  speak  somewhat  in  public.  On  the  day  of  his 
arrival  he  walked  out  after  dinner,  and  observing  a  funeral 
procession,  he  joined  it  and  followed  to  the  cemetery. 
The  assemblage  was  large,  and  the  scene  solemn.  Just  as 
the  coffin  was  lowered  into  the  grave,  he  arrested  the  at- 
tention of  the  multitude  by  breaking  forth  in  his  musical, 
sonorous  voice,  with  the  sublime  words  of  Jesus  to  the 
mourning  sisters  at  Bethany,  "  I  am  the  resurrection  and 
the  life."  The  effect  was  electric,  and  he  went  on  in  a 
strain  of  eloquence  which  held  his  audience  spell-bound. 
The  moment  he  ceased  to  speak  there  was  the  universal 
inquiry,  "  Who  is  he  ?  "  "  Where  did  he  come  from  ?  " 

As  soon  as  it  was  noised  abroad  that  the  stranger  at  the 
grave  was  Mr.  Winchester,  there  was  a  general  desire  to 
hear  him  preach.  He  delivered  one  or  two  lectures,  but 
no  building  in  the  city  would  contain  his  audiences,  but 
the  Theatre  was  soon  opened  for  that  purpose  on  Sundays, 
and  on  Wednesday  evenings  he  preached  in  one  of  the 
churches.  He  was  strongly  impressed  that  his  earthly 
course  was  nearly  ended,  and  he  spoke  as  one  about  to 
leave  this  world.  Early  in  April  he  preached  his  last 
sermon,  having  chosen  his  text  with  the  profound  convic- 
tion that  he  should  never  preach  again,  from  St.  Paul's 
farewell  address  to  the  elders  of  the  Ephesian  Church 
(Acts.  xx.  28-35. ) 

From  that  day  he  declined  rapidly,  but  with  his  mind 
clear  to  the  very  last,  even  joining  in  a  hymn  which  was 
sung  at  his  request,  a  few  moments  before  he  died,  on  the 
morning  of  April  18,  1797. 


342  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

On  the  following  Friday  he  was  buried  from  the  Pres- 
byterian Church,  the  funeral  sermon  being  preached  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Strong,  who  though  of  another  faith  was  his  inti- 
mate friend,  and  paid  a  fitting  tribute  to  the  lovely  char- 
acter and  lofty  piety  of  the  deceased. 

He  was  buried  in  Hartford,  and  his  resting  place  is 
marked  by  a  stone  containing  the  following  inscription  :  — 

THE     GENERAL    CONVENTION      OF    THE    UNIVERSAL      CHURCHES    IN     MEMOKY 
OF  THEIR   DEAR  DEPARTED    BROTHER 

ELHANAN  WINCHESTER, 

ERECTED   THIS  MONUMENTAL  STONE.      HE    DIED    APRIL    18TH.    1797,    AGED  46 

TEARS. 

"Twas  thine  to  preach  with  animated  zeal 

The  glories  of  the  restitution  morn, 
When  sin,  death,  hell,  the  power  of  Christ  shall  feel, 
And  Light,  Life,  Immortality  be  born." 

Mr.  Winchester  left  no  children,  those  which  he  had 
having  died  in  infancy.  His  aged  father,  still  living 
at  the  old  place  in  Heath  Street,  and  holding  the  views  of 
his  eminent  son,  while  the  latter  was  living,  but  appar- 
ently without  any  settled  convictions  of  his  own,  was 
now  again  afloat  without  chart  or  compass.  He  had  been 
first  a  Congregationalist,  then  a  New  Light,  then  a  Bap- 
tist, then  a  Universalist ;  a  few  years  after  his  son's  death, 
he  turned  Shaker,  and  left  Brooldine  and  joined  that 
sect  in  Harvard,  where  he  died  "full  in  the  faith,"  in 
September,  1810,  aged  91  years. 

Just  before  his  death  he  sent  word  to  some  of  his  old 
friends  in  Newton,  "  In  every  other  denomination  I  have 
had  my  doubts  ;  but  now  I  am  sure  that  I  am  right." 

When  we  see  good  men  live  noble  and  useful  lives,  and 
die  triumphant  deaths,  holding  views  which  other  men 
just  as  good  and  living  just  as  purely  consider  arrant 
heresy,  it  may  well  make  us  very  modest  in  the  assertion 
of  any  creed  beyond  that  of  "  doing  justly,  loving  mercy, 
and  walking  humbly  with  God." 


THE  RICHARDS'  TAVERN.  343 

The  great  house  which  Deacon  Winchester  had  occu- 
pied, and  in  which  he  had  brought  up  his  fifteen  children, 
was  afterwards  owned  by  Ebenezer  AVhite,  and  then  by 
Joseph  White,  who  sold  it  to  Ebenezer  Richards.  He  kept 
it  as  a  public  house  for  several  years.  When  the  turnpike 
to  Worcester  was  opened,  a  toll-gate  was  placed  across  it 
in  the  rear  of  the  tavern.  It  was  a  convenient  resort  for 
teamsters,  and  parties  from  Boston  often  went  out  there 
to  have  games  at  nine-pins.  In  its  best  days  it  was  much 
frequented  by  gay  parties,  and  Brookline  balls  were  held 
there.  It  was  discontinued  as  a  tavern  about  1830. 

It  was  afterwards  purchased  by  Henry  Pettes  of  Bos- 
ton, who  made  great  improvements  upon  it,  resided  there 
for  a  year  or  two,  and  then  sold  it  to  Mark  W.  Sheaf e  of 
Portsmouth  ;  it  has  since  then  been  commonly  called  the 
Sheafe  place. 

The  next  house  on  the  same  side  of  Heath  Street  stands 
on  the  site  of  one  which  was  built  by  Ebenezer  Ken- 
drick,  another  of  the  New  Lights,  being  conveniently  near 
their  place  of  worship.  The  present  house  was  built  by 
Mr.  Jonathan  Hammond.  There  was  quite  a  large  tract 
of  land  in  this  vicinity,  partly  in  Brookline,  and  partly  in 
Newton,  belonging  to  the  Hammonds,  from  whom  the 
pond  and  the  cross  street  near  by  were  named. 

The  Hammond  house  was  for  several  years  occupied  by 
Madame  Jane  Coaifford,  a  French  lady.  She  died  in  this 
house  and  was  buried  in  Brookline  Cemetery. 


344  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

HEATH      STREET,      CONCLUDED. WARREN      STREET. ANEC- 
DOTE   OF   JOSHUA    BOYLSTON,    DEACON    CLARK,    MISS    PRUDT 

HEATH,      COLONEL      PERKINS. GODDARD      AVENUE. THE 

GODDARDS    IN     THE     REVOLUTION. A    PATRIOTIC     FAMILY. 

—  COTTAGE    STREET. THE    LEE    PLACE. 

HAVING  arrived  at  the  very  limits  of  the  town  in 
this  direction,  we  find  a  small  settlement  of  Ger- 
mans. Almost  on  the  town  line  stood  a  little  cottage  or 
hovel,  years  ago,  where  lived  an  old  negro,  Nathaniel 
Hill,  who  was  hired  by  the  farmers  around  to  do  odd 
jobs.  The  place  was  bought  by  Deacon  Ebenezer  Crafts, 
Avho  sold  it  to  Rev.  Jonathan  Hyde,  who  came  from  Can- 
terbury, Conn.,  where  the  Hydes  abound,  —  to  preach 
to  the  "  New  Lights  "  of  Brookline.  He  built  a  house 
upon  it  in  1751,  and  lived  here  thirty-six  years,  the  most 
of  that  time  officiating  as  a  clergyman,  though  there  was 
not  a  regularly  organized  church,  and  was  not  probably 
wealth  enough  among  them  to  build  a  meeting-house ; 
the  history  of  the  sect  we  have  given,  so  far  as  informa- 
tion could  be  obtained,  in  the  chapters  on  the  Win- 
chesters. Of  Mr.  Hyde  we  can  learn  little  personal 
history,  but  Dr.  Pierce  states  that  though  nearly  all  his 
followers  were,  or  became  Baptists,  he  held  to  the  doc- 
trine of  infant  baptism  to  the  end  of  his  days.  He  died 
in  1787,  aged  78.  His  son  Thaddeus  next  owned  the 
place,  and  died  there  in  1808,  and  his  son  Arba  succeeded 
him. 


WARREN   STREET.  845 

The  place  and  the  men  deteriorated  together,  and  after 
the  death  of  the  last  Hyde  in  1841,  the  house  was  torn 
down  by  order  of  the  selectmen.  Since  that  time  John 
Zecher  settled  upon  the  place,  and  quite  a  village  of  Ger- 
mans has  gradually  grown  up. 

We  now  return  to  the  middle  of  the  town,  and  enter 
Warren  Street,  west  of  the  Unitarian  Church.  This 
picturesque  and  beautiful  entrance  to  the  street  needs  to 
be  seen  coming  northerly,  instead  of  going  in  the  opposite 
direction,  in  order  to  be  fully  appreciated.  It  would 
seem  that  in  laying  out  this  street,  the  fathers  availed 
themselves  of  a  natural  depression  in  the  rocky  ledge 
for  the  street  to  pass  through,  as  the  rocks  are  high  on 
both  sides,  but  bear  no  traces  of  ever  having  been  blasted. 
There  is  no  bit  of  rock  scenery  in  the  town  so  pictur- 
esque as  this,  with  the  wild  mosses  and  ferns  growing 
from  the  crevices,  and  crowned  with  the  woods  on  the 
one  side,  and  the  steep  face  of  the  little  precipice  on  the 
other,  covered  with  luxuriant  vines,  cultivated  with  all 
the  resources  of  taste  and  skill. 

The  first  house  in  the  street  on  the  west,  standing  for- 
merly on  the  site  of  the  house  of  the  late  Deacon  Clark, 
was  built  by  a  John  Shepard  so  long  ago,  that  the  date 
is  not  recoverable.  The  house  was  purchased  by  Dudley 
Boylston  in  1722,  who  made  it  his  residence.  A  few 
persons  still  live  in  the  town  who  can  remember  it.  One 
venerable  lady,  who  was  often  in  it,  in  her  early  child- 
hood, describes  it  as  a  black,  gambrel-roofed  house,  stand- 
ing end  to  the  street,  fronting  toward  the  place  now 
owned  by  John  L.  Gardner.  The  sills  were  sunken  level 
with  the  ground,  and  to  enter  it,  one  needed  to  step  down 
instead  of  up.  The  whole  interior  was  in  keeping  with 
the  external  appearance. 

Dudley  Boylston  was  a  son  of   the  Peter   Boylstou 

23 


346  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BKOOKLINE. 

often  before  mentioned,  —  and  a  brother  of  Dr.  Zabdiel 
Boylston.  He  was  born  about  1688,  and  married  Eliza- 
beth Gardner  of  this  town.  He  was  the  town  constable 
for  some  time,  and  an  old  military  commission  issued  in 
the  time  of  Francis  Bernard,  Captain-general  and  Gov- 
ernor-in-chief,  indicates  his  rank  as  "  first  adjutant  of 
the  first  regiment,  whereof  Jeremy  Gridley  is  Colonel." 

There  was  a  lifelong  sorrow  in  the  family  of  Dudley 
Boylston,  in  the  insanity  of  his  daughter  Mary,  who  was 
thus  afflicted  from  eighteen  years  of  age  to  eighty,  when 
she  died. 

After  the  death  of  the  father,  the  homestead  became 
the  property  of  his  son  Joshua.  He  was  a  bachelor  of 
reserved  and  stern  manners,  but  a  sagacious  and  practical 
man.  The  story  of  his  courtship  and  marriage  is  a  curious 
one.  When  he  was  nearly  fifty-five  years  of  age,  in 
1783,  he  being  one  of  the  selectmen  or  school  com- 
mittee, was  at  the  annual  dinner  of  that  board  of  officers, 
which  was  then  always  served  at  the  "  Punch  Bowl." 
It  was  then  kept  by  Eleazer  Baker,  whose  sister  Abigail, 
a  cheerful,  trim  little  body,  about  forty  years  of  age,  was 
attending  upon  the  guests  at  table. 

Esquire  Sharp,  the  town  clerk  and  justice  of  the  peace, 
—  also  a  bachelor,  was  present.  The  two  were  well 
bantered  by  the  rest  of  the  merry  company  for  their 
celibacy,  and  some  one  pressed  Mr.  Boylston  for  a  reason 
why  he  had  never  married.  He  replied  that  he  could 
find  no  one  who  would  have  him. 

To  the  astonishment  of  all  present,  Miss  Abigail  in- 
stantly remarked,  — 

"  I  would  have  you,  Mr.  Boylston." 

"  Would  you  ?  "  he  asked  incredulously. 

"  Yes,  I  would." 

"  Squire  Sharp  !  "  said  Mr.  Boylston,  "  do  you  hear 
that.  Publish  us  next  Sunday  morning." 


CURIOUS   COURTSHIP   AND   MARRIAGE.  347 

There  was  a  laugh,  and  the  matter  was  dropped  as  a 
mere  joke. 

On  Sunday  morning  no  publishment  appeared,  and 
Mr.  Boylston,  taking  an  early  opportunity  to  see  Squire 
Sharp,  desired  to  know  the  reason. 

"  Why,"  said  the  Squire,  "  are  you  in  earnest  ?  I 
thought  it  was  only  a  joke." 

"  Publish  me  next  Sunday,  or  I'll  prosecute  you,"  was 
the  gruff  reply  of  the  sturdy  old  bachelor.  The  next 
Sunday  morning  the  town  was  astonished  at  the  an- 
nouncement which  hung  up  in  the  vestibule  of  the  little 
old  meeting-house.  Three  weeks  of  probation  passed, 
and  all  the  gossips  had  enough  to  amuse  them. 

Mr.  Boylston  appointed  the  time  for  the  wedding,  to 
which  his  affianced  agreed,  at  seven  o'clock  the  following 
Monday  morning,  at  Parson  Jackson's. 

Mrs.  Jackson  had  her  bed  "  in  the  best  fore-room," 
and  she  had  barely  made  herself  and  her  room  ready, 
when  the  couple  made  their  appearance  at  the  gate,  each 
on  foot,  coming  alone  from  their  opposite  homes.  There 
was  a  few  moments'  conversation,  and  then  Abigail  came 
in,  while  her  Joshua  hastened  down  the  street.  He  had 
forgotten  to  get  a  certificate  !  With  due  speed  he  found 
Squire  Sharp,  obtained  the  necessary  document,  and  re- 
appeared at  the  parsonage.  A  few  moments  more  and 
Joshua  Boylston  ceased  to  be  a  bachelor.  They  lived 
together,  as  the  story-books  say,  "  in  happiness  ever 
after,"  —  for  twenty -six  years. 

There  was  one  child  by  this  marriage,  a  daughter  Re- 
becca. Mr.  Boylston  died  in  1804,  at  the  age  of  79. 
His  widow  lived  till  1814. 

Deacon  Joshua  C.  Clark  purchased  the  old  Boylstoi? 
house,  and  took  it  down  in  1809,  the  Boylston  family 
living  at  that  time  in  the  house  on  the  corner  of  Washing- 


348  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOJiLINE. 

ton  and  Cypress  streets.  He  had  a  new  house  built  for 
him  by  Nathaniel  Murdock,  on  the  old  site,  and  when 
completed  in  all  but  the  last  details,  it  took  fire  and 
burned  to  the  ground.  The  loss  fell  upon  the  carpenter, 
who  had  not  delivered  his  completed  work  to  the  owner's 
hands.  The  townspeople  rallied  and  raised  a  handsome 
sum  towards  remunerating  him  for  his  loss,  and  in  a  few 
months  the  present  house  was  built,  and  Mr.  Clark  mar- 
ried Rebecca  Boylston,  and  took  possession  of  the  house, 
in  May,  1810. 

The  yard  of  the  old  house  contained  great  rocks,  and 
all  the  space  from  the  west  side  of  the  house  to  the  great 
ledge  in  Mrs.  Bowditch's  garden  in  the  rear  of  the  green- 
house, and  so  westward  over  what  is  now  called  Lake- 
side, was  thickly  wooded.  The  ground  around  the  house 
was  leveled  by  filling  the  spaces  between  the  rocks  even 
with  their  surface,  retaining  only  the  one  projecting  end 
of  the  ledge,  which  now  helps  to  make  this  old  place  so 
picturesque,  overrun  with  climbing  vines. 

We  can  hardly  leave  the  Clark  house  and  its  in- 
habitants, without  brief  mention  of  one  of  its  former 
inmates,  an  elderly  maiden  lady,  known  as  "  Miss  Prudy 
Heath."  She  was  from  the  Roxbury  branch  of  the 
Heath  family.  There  were  no  striking  events  in  her 
life,  or  especially  strong  points  in  her  character,  to  form 
the  subject  of  a  biographical  sketch,  yet  she  was  just  her 
own  peculiar  self,  and  as  such  was  identified  with  Brook- 
line,  and  particularly  with  the  First  Parish.  In  this  con- 
nection, her  figure  should  stand  in  the  picture  of  the 
times  in  which  she  lived,  as  an  incidental  part  of  the 
whole,  as  the  milestone,  the  rail  fence,  or  the  wayside 
burdock  is  introduced  by  the  artist  in  a  corner  of  his 
canvas. 

Miss  Prudence  Heath  was  born  in  1751 ;  lived  many 


MISS   PRUDENCE   HEATH.  349 

years  in  the  family  of  the  last  Robert  Sharp,  received  a 
small  property  from  her  nephew,  Mr.  Samuel  Gore  of 
Roxbury,  and  then  settled  herself  for  life  among  the 
C larks,  living  first  in  the  house  of  Deacon  Samuel  Clark, 
at  the  corner  of  Walnut  and  Chestnut  streets,  till  his 
death,  and  then  removing  to  his  son's  house  in  Warren 
Street,  where  she  spent  the  remainder  of  her  days. 

Miss  Prudy  was  not  only  quaint  and  unique,  seen  in 
the  light  of  modern  times,  but  in  the  days  in  which  she 
lived,  she  was  always,  whatever  might  be  the  prevailing 
fashions,  at  least  twenty  years  behind  the  times.  She 
was  a  curiosity  to  children  and  strangers,  whatever  she 
might  be  to  accustomed  eyes,  —  with  her  immense  black 
leghorn  bonnet,  and  her  great  green  silk  umbrella,  which 
she  usually  carried.  There  are  persons  to  whom  the 
sight  of  the  plant  known  as  succory,  or  blue  vervain, 
which  is  still  to  be  seen  in  waste  spots,  and  along  road- 
sides, often  recalls  the  memory  of  Miss  Prudy.  This 
plant  she  gathered  and  dried,  using  its  leaves  as  tea. 
Perhaps  she  would  have  resorted  to  its  roots,  had  she 
known  that  it  woidd  become  the  famous  chicory  of  mod- 
ern commerce,  which  forms  110  inconsiderable  part  of  the 
coffee  now  drank  by  the  multitude. 

So  far  as  Miss  Prudy 's  own  living  and  habits  were  con- 
cerned, her  Christian  name  might  have  been  a  synonym 
for  her  character,  but  to  others  she  was  truly  generous, 
though  a  little  vindictiveness  flamed  up  occasionally, 
towards  certain  persons  who  had  been  unjust  to  her  in 
her  earlier  days.  One  of  her  greatest  pleasures  was  to 
entertain  her  friends  at  tea,  a  ceremony  which  always 
took  place  at  four  in  the  afternoon.  Then  the  "  young 
Hyson,"  which  was  carefully  hoarded  for  these  festivities, 
sent  up  its  steaming  fragrance,  the  choicest  cake,  and 
tha  "presarved  squince,"  in  which  she  delighted,  were 


350  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

brought  forth  from  their  hidden  retreats,  and  Miss  Prudy 
was  as  happy  as  the  presiding  genius  of  the  most  aris- 
tocratic festal  board  in  the  town.  Once  a  year,  at  least, 
Dr.  Pierce  honored  her  humble  apartment  with  his  pres- 
ence on  such  an  occasion,  sometimes  taking  one  of  his 
family  with  him,  and  very  often  Miss  Prudy  remembered 
her  minister  with  a  generous  gift  from  her  small  income. 
Two  silver  cups  are  still  in  possession  of  the  First  Church, 
which  were  presented  by  her  in  1818. 

This  old  lady  was  neither  witty  nor  even  facetious. 
She  took  life  very  much  in  earnest,  yet  her  quaint 
speeches  and  queer  ordering  of  words  unawares,  were 
sometimes  as  amusing  to  her  friends  as  wit  might  have 
been.  When  the  Providence  railroad  was  opened  through 
Roxbury,  at  the  crossing  of  Tremont  Street,  it  passed 
through  the  farm  of  her  nephew,  Mr.  John  Heath,  and 
necessitated  the  removal  of  the  house  which  he  then  oc- 
cupied. Miss  Prudy  did  not  admire  railways,  —  they 
were  modern  innovations  upon  which  only  the  seal  of 
evil  was  set,  and  her  mind  was  a  good  deal  exercised 
thereby.  She  visited  in  Roxbury  at  the  old  Gore  place, 
by  the  crossing,  and  there  examined  the  track,  and  came 
home  convinced  of  its  dangerous  and  mischievous  ten- 
dency. The  word  "  cars,"  she  could  not  remember ; 
"  stages,"  were  her  idea  of  travelling  conveyances. 
"  Would  you,"  she  asked  of  her  friends  again  and  again, 
"  would  you  ride  in  one  o'  them  ravin'  stages  ?  "  for  to 
her  imagination  doubtless  a  Revere  disaster  might  be  a 
daily  occurrence. 

Poor  old  simple-hearted  Miss  Prudy,  born  in  the  mid- 
dle of  the  eighteenth  century,  lived  long  enough  to  see 
something  of  the  grand  march  of  the  nineteenth,  in 
which  she  at  least  had  no  part.  She  died  in  1839,  aged 
eighty-eight,  a  character  as  impossible  to  be  reproduced 


WILLIAM  EUSTIS.  351 

in  these  times,  in  this  vicinity,  as  the  ichthyosaurus,  or 
the  megatherium  of  geology. 

A  little  southeast  of  this  house,  on  the  same  side  of 
the  street,  stood  for  many  years,  in  the  earlier  history 
of  the  town,  a  house  owned  and  occupied  by  Josiah  Win- 
chester, Jr.  His  son  Caleb,  and  afterwards  John  Seaver, 
were  his  successors.  The  house  was  purchased  and  taken 
down  during  the  last  century,  by  the  original  proprietor 
of  the  house  now  owned  by  the  heirs  of  the  late  Samuel 
Goddard. 

The  wooded  hill  opposite  was  formerly  the  property  of 
Deacon  Samuel  Clark.  About  the  year  1822,  Captain 
Benjamin  Bradley  built  a  house  below,  and  in  front  of 
the  woods.  He  rented  it  for  some  little  time  to  various 
tenants,  and  at  last  sold  it  to  Mr.  Jacob  Eustis,  an  elderly 
gentleman  who  removed  here  from  Saugus. 

Mr.  Eustis  had  two  sons,  both  of  whom  survived  him, 
the  one  well  known  as  Judge  Eustis,  who  took  up  his 
residence  at  the  South,  returning  often  to  Brookline  to 
spend  his  summers.  The  other,  William  Eustis,  was  edu- 
cated for  the  profession  of  a  physician,  but  being  of  a  sen- 
sitive temperament,  and  also  predisposed  to  insanity,  his 
mind  became  somewhat  affected  by  troubles  in  his  early 
manhood,  and  he  never  followed  his  profession.  Instead, 
however,  he  devoted  attention  to  horticulture,  built  a  fine 
greenhouse,  and  ornamented  the  place  with  choice  vines 
and  plants.  He  also  was  a  teacher  and  afterwards  super- 
intendent of  the  First  Parish  Sabbath-school  for  several 
years.  His  bea'utiful  attention  to  his  aged  and  widowed 
mother,  his  kindness  and  delicacy  of  feeling  made  him 
warm  friends  in  all  who  knew  him  well,  though  by  the 
unsympathizing  world  at  large  he  was  smiled  at  for  his 
little  peculiarities,  and  perhaps  generally  undervalued. 
His  health  was  gradually  undermined,  and  he  sank  away 


352  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

and  died  without  any  visible  disease.  His  mother  did 
not  long  survive  him,  and  the  place  soon  passed  into  other 
hands.  The  house  has  lately  given  place  to  a  modern  and 
much  larger  one. 

The  house  now  owned  by  John  L.  Gardner  was  built 
by  Captain  Ingersoll  early  in  the  present  century. 
Charles  Tappan  was  the  next  owner  of  this  place,  and 
occupied  it  like  his  predecessor,  ten  years.  His  successor 
was  Deacon  Thomas  Kendall  of  Boston,  who  also  held  a 
ten  years'  ownership.  He  was  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Charles  Street  Baptist  Church  (then  Dr.  Sharp's) 
for  many  years.  After  some  years'  residence  in  Brook- 
line  he  connected  himself  with  the  Baptist  Church  in  this 
place,  in  which  he  continued  an  influential  and  honored 
member  till  his  death,  at  an  advanced  age. 

Deacon  Kendall  was  the  Representative  of  Brookline 
in  the  State  Legislature  for  several  years.  He  died  in 
November,  1850. 

The  house  which  has  for  many  years  past  been  the  res- 
idence of  the  late  Samuel  Goddard  or  his  heirs,  was  built 
in  1792,  by  Nehemiah  Davis. 

At  this  time  there  were  no  other  houses  on  the  entire 
street,  except  the  old  Boylston  house  and  the  houses  of 
the  Winchesters,  one  of  which,  as  mentioned  before,  he 
bought  and  took  down.  The  farm  connected  with  this 
place  was  very  extensive.  Mr.  Davis  occupied  the  house 
till  his  death  in  1785.  The  next  owner  of  any  note,  was 
Hon.  George  Cabot,  a  member  of  Congress,  and  after- 
wards Secretary  of  the  Navy,  in  Washington's  time,  and 
a  Federalist,  in  the  old  days  when  political  animosity  ran 
high  between  the  conservatives  and  the  democracy  then 
just  coming  into  power.  The  rancor  between  "  Feder- 
alists "  and  "  Jacobins  "  was  as  strong  as  anything  which 
as  yet  marks  the  conflict  between  the  supporters  of  Re- 


WARREN   STREET.  353 

publican  and  Democratic  candidates,  and  each  party  called 
the  other  as  unlovely  names  and  was  as  unscrupulous  as 
to  truth  and  falsehood  in  politics  as  their  descendants 
seem  to  be. 

Mr.  Cabot  was  a  retired  sea-captain  who  had  seen  much 
of  the  world,  and  he  bore  hearty  testimony  to  the  desir- 
ableness of  our  town  as  a  place  of  residence  in  his  day,  and 
to  its  many  attractions.  Mr.  Cabot  died  in  Boston  in 
1823,  aged  seventy-one.  He  left  three  sons,  and  a 
daughter  who  became  the  wife  of  President  Kirk! and  of 
Harvard  College. 

Stephen  Higginson,  Jr.,  was  the  next  owner  of  the 
place  for  a  few  years,  but  sold  it  to  Captain  Adam  Bab- 
cock.  The  land  which  now  comprises  all  of  Mr.  Gard- 
ner's place  was  sold  off  this  estate  to  Captain  Ingersoll, 
who  married  Captain  Babcock's  daughter.  Both  these 
gentlemen  were  also  retired  sea-captains.  Mr.  Goddard 
was  Captain  Babcock's  successor  in  this  house. 

Mr.  Goddard  was  one  of  the  wealthy  men  of  Brook- 
line.  In  early  life  he  had  been  engaged  in  mercantile 
pursuits  in  Manchester,  England.  He  returned  to  this 
town  about  1838,  where  he  resided  till  his  death,  in 
March,  1871.  He  was  nearly  eighty-four  years  of  age. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  several  acres  of 
ground  were  once  included  in  the  Cabot  estate.  This 
was  the  corner  lot  bordering  on  Warren  and  Cottage 
streets.  An  old  building,  partly  house  and  partly  barn, 
stood  on  this  lot,  and  was  occupied  by  one  of  the  first 
Irishmen  who  settled  here.  All  that  was  between  this 
and  the  estate  before  mentioned  as  Dr.  Eustis's  place, 
was  early  in  the  last  century  the  property  of  Mr.  Elhanan 
Winchester,  grandfather  of  the  preacher  of  that  name. 
The  old  Winchester  house  stood  almost  on  the  site  of 
the  present  Murdock  house.  His  son  Elhanan  (who 


354  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

died  a  Shaker)  was  the  next  owner,  and  he  sold  to  John 
Seaver  and  removed  to  the  upper  part  of  Heath  Street  as 
before  mentioned.  Mr.  Seaver's  estate  went  through 
many  changes,  and  this  lot  of  land  became  the  property 
of  the  Hyslops.  In  1799,  Mr.  David  Hyslop  sold  the 
land  to  Nathaniel  Murdock,  a  young  carpenter,  who  had 
come  into  the  town  and  was  building  the  house  of  Hon. 
Stephen  Higginson.  The  land  sold  included  what  is  now 
the  house  lot  of  Mr.  Charles  D.  Head.  The  house  was 
built  for  Mr.  Stephen  Perkins,  son  of  Samuel  G.  Perkins 
of  Brookline. 

Mr.  Murdock  raised  the  frame  of  his  own  house  (which 
still  stands)  on  the  last  day  of  the  last  century,  Decem- 
ber 31,  1799.  On  the  first  day  of  the  year  1800  he 
boarded  it  in,  and  in  the  spring  it  was  completed,  and  he 
occupied  it  from  that  time  till  his  death,  in  1837. 

A  house  which  stood  next  it  and  was  removed  a  few 
years  ago  by  Mr.  Sargent,  was  built  by  George  Murdock, 
son  of  the  former. 

The  Cabot  estate  included  all  the  land  which  has  for 
many  years  past  been  the  property  of  the  Warren  family. 
In  the  early  settlement  of  the  town,  however,  this  place 
was  the  property  of  Josiah  Winchester,  father  of  Elhanan, 
who  lived  upon  the  Murdock  place.  The  ancient  Win- 
chester house  was  destroyed  before  the  close  of  the  last 
century.  The  descendants  of  the  Winchesters  still  live  in 
Brookline. 

On  this  place  also  stood  an  old  gambrel-roofed  red 
house,  said  to  have  been  moved  out  from  Boston.  From 
the  size  and  quality  of  the  timbers  and  chimney,  and  the 
manner  of  building,  it  would  seem  to  be  very  ancient. 
Mr.  Warren,  on  purchasing  the  place,  lived  for  a  short 
time  in  this  house  till  he  could  erect  another,  and  then 
sold  the  old  one  to  Captain  Benjamin  Bradley,  who  re- 


COLONEL   T.   H.   PERKINS.  355 

moved  it  to  his  hill.  It  was  the  first  house  placed  on  the 
hill.  In  this  house  lived  for  many  years  Mr.  Celfe,  an 
excellent  man,  well  remembered  as  the  skillful  gardener 
for  Richard  Sullivan,  Esq.,  and  Judge  Jackson,  and  after- 
wards for  the  late  John  E.  Thayer,  in  whose  service  he 
died,  at  an  advanced  age.  Long  before  his  death,  how- 
ever, he  had  changed  his  residence.  The  old  house  was 
removed  from  Bradley's  Hill  at  the  time  the  other  build- 
ings were  transferred  to  Sewall  Street,  and  is  still  doing 
service  at  "  Hart's  Content."  Whether  it  has  finished 
its  travels  or  still  has  further  journeys  before  it,  remains 
to  be  seen. 

The  house  in  the  corner  between  Warren  and  Cottage 
streets,  was  built  for  Samuel  G.  Perkins,  brother  of 
Colonel  Thomas  H.  Perkins. 

The  land  upon  the  same  side  of  Warren  Street  for 
many  years  past  so  highly  cultivated  and  so  beautiful  in 
many  attractions,  including  the  estates  of  James  S.  Amory 
and  Mrs.  Winthrop,  were  never  built  upon  until  pur- 
chased by  the  present  owners,  and  the  whole  area  was 
known  for  many  years  as  "  the  old  huckleberry  pasture." 
There  are  people  now  living  in  town  who  have  gathered 
bushels  of  berries  upon  these  places. 

COLONEL   T.   H.    PERKINS. 

Colonel  Thomas  H.  Perkins,  though  not  a  native  of 
Brookline,  was  for  so  many  years  a  resident  and  large 
tax-payer,  that  a  brief  sketch  of  his  life  seems  in  place 
in  this  history. 

He  was  born  in  Boston,  December  15,  1764.  His 
mother's  father,  for  whom  he  was  named,  was  a  dealer  in 
hats  and  furs.  The  family  lived  in  King  Street,  now 
State  Street,  and  in  full  view  of  the  events  of  the  "  Bos- 
ton Massacre  "  in  March,  1770.  Colonel  Perkins  through- 


356  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

out  his  life  remembered  with  great  distinctness  the  im- 
pression made  upon  his  childish  mind  by  the  sight  of  the 
dead  bodies,  and  the  blood  which  lay  frozen  upon  the 
ground  the  next  day.  His  father  died  when  he  was  but 
six  years  old,  and  his  mother,  a  woman  of  great  energy, 
continued  the  business,  and  brought  up  her  eight  children 
with  great  credit  to  herself  and  to  them.  Her  eldest  son, 
James,  on  coming  of  age,  went  to  the  Island  of  San  Do- 
mingo, in  a  ship  of  which  his  mother  was  part  owner,  and 
there  was  soon  established  in  mercantile  business. 

Thomas  Handasyd,  the  second  son,  was  educated  for 
college,  but  being  much  more  strongly  inclined  to  an  ac- 
tive business  life  than  to  a  quiet  literary  one,  he  joined  his 
brother  in  San  Domingo.  Having  remained  there  for  a 
time,  the  climate  being  unfavorable  to  his  health  he  re- 
turned to  Boston,  where  he  attended  to  the  business  of 
the  house  in  the  United  States,  while  his  younger  brother, 
Samuel  G.  Perkins,  took  his  place  in  San  Domingo. 

In  1788  he  was  married  to  the  only  daughter  of  Simon 
Elliot,  Esq.  (who  afterwards  came  to  reside  in  Heath 
Street).  Mr.  Perkins  commenced  married  life  in  a  most 
economical  manner,  as  a  matter  of  necessity,  but  soon 
turned  his  attention  to  the  tea  trade  in  Canton,  to  which 
place  he  made  one  voyage  himself.  During  his  absence 
our  government  was  organized  under  the  new  constitution 
of  1789,  and  though  heavy  duties  had  been  established,  a 
stability  had  been  given  to  trade  which  led  to  great  mer- 
cantile prosperity. 

In  1792  the  great  insurrection  of  the  slaves  in  San  Do- 
mingo broke  up  the  prosperous  business  of  his  two 
brothers,  and  obliged  them  to  return  to  Boston,  having 
narrowly  escaped  with  their  lives,  and  suffered  great 
losses.  They  began  anew  in  Boston,  their  trade  being 
with  China  and  the  northwest  coast,  and  eventually  estab- 


COLONEL   T.   H.   PERKINS.  357 

lished  a  house  in  Canton.  Colonel  Perkins  received 
his  military  title  as  commander  of  the  battalion  which 
forms  the  Governor's  escort,  he  having  previously  held  a 
lower  rank  in  that  body. 

Mr.  James  Perkins  settled  at  what  is  known  as  "  Pine 
Bank  "  on  the  shore  of  Jamaica  Pond.  The  house  was  the 
one  which  now  stands  opposite  the  Town  House,  owned 
by  Robert  S.  Davis,  and  lately  occupied  by  Dr.  Sanford. 
It  was  sold,  and  removed  from  Pine  Bank  about  thirty 
years  ago. 

Samuel  G.  Perkins  settled  at  the  corner  of  Cottage  and 
Warren  streets. 

Colonel  Perkins  about  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century  was  chosen  President  of  the  Boston  branch  of  the 
United  States  Bank,  which  was  then  quite  a  distinction, 
when  there  were  so  few  banks.  His  own  business  was 
too  pressing  to  admit  of  his  holding  this  situation  long, 
and  he  resigned  after  a  year  or  two,  and  Hon.  George 
Cabot  was  chosen  in  his  stead.  In  1805,  Colonel  Perkins 
was  chosen  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  which  place  he 
held  for  nearly  twenty  years. 

He  was  very  active  in  establishing  the  Massachusetts 
General  Hospital,  and  the  Insane  Hospital,  his  contribu- 
tion and  his  elder  brother's  being  each  eight  thousand 
dollars  for  these  purposes,  an  amount  for  those  times  equal 
to  a  very  much  greater  one  at  present. 

In  1838  Colonel  Perkins  withdrew  from  business  with 
a  large  fortune,  and  devoted  his  time  to  various  public 
matters  which  interested  him.  He  was  especially  noted 
as  the  generous  patron  of  the  Blind  Asylum,  to  which  he 
gave  a  fine  large  house  in  Pearl  Street,  Boston  ;  of  the 
Mercantile  Library  Association,  and  of  the  Boston  Ath- 
enamm.  He  was  naturally  a  lover  of  the  beautiful  both 
in  nature  and  art,  and  spared  no  pains  in  the  importing 


358  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

and  cultivating  of  choice  plants  and  trees  on  his  beautiful 
place  in  Warren  Street,  which  was  quite  a  resort  for 
visitors  from  many  places.  He  sometimes  went  far  out 
of  his  way  to  enjoy  an  extensive  prospect  or  examine  a 
fine  tree. 

An  incident  is  related  of  the  interest  which  he  felt  in 
the  preservation  of  our  Brookline  elms.  There  was  a  row 
of  magnificent  elms  through  "  the  village,"  on  the  south 
side  of  the  street  from  the  lower  part  of  Walnut  Street,  to 
the  town  line,  —  though  this  part  of  the  village  was  then 
in  Roxbury.  Colonel  Perkins  riding  by  one  day  noticed 
a  certain  man  who  then  lived  in  that  neighborhood  about 
to  cut  down  two  of  them.  He  stopped  and  inquired  into 
the  necessity  for  such  an  act,  and  was  informed  that  they 
shaded  some  cherry  trees  (two  miserable  little  specimens 
not  long  set  out).  Colonel  Perkins  begged  the  man  to 
spare  the  trees,  telling  him  he  would  furnish  him  with 
cherries  as  long  as  he  lived,  but  the  obstinate  old  sinner, 
who  seemed  to  delight  in  doing  what  annoyed  others,  es- 
pecially rich  men,  persevered,  and  not  only  cut  down  the 
two,  but  after  a  time,  all  the  rest  which  bordered  his  land, 
thus  depriving  not  only  his  own  generation,  but  those 
which  have  succeeded  him,  of  the  grateful  shade  which 
would  have  redeemed  that  unattractive  region  of  half  its 
repulsiveness  even  now,  had  they  been  spared. 

Colonel  Perkins  being  in  Washington  in  1796,  was  there 
introduced  to  General  Washington,  who  invited  him  to 
his  home  in  Mt.  Vernon,  where  he  spent  two  days.  Some 
interesting  incidents  of  this  visit  are  related  in  his  Me- 
moirs.* 

Colonel  Perkins  outlived  both  his  brothers.  His 
brother  Samuel  had  died  blind,  and  one  of  his  own  eyes 
was  covered  by  a  cataract  for  twenty  years.  The  other 

*  Memoirs   of  Colonel   Thomas  II.  Perkins,  by  Thomas  G.  Carey.     This 
highly  interesting  volume  is  in  the  Brookline  Public  Library. 


THE   PERKINS   HOUSE.  359 

eye  became  affected,  and  lie  was  in  danger  of  total  blind- 
ness. A  successful  operation  by  Dr.  Williams  of  Boston 
removed  it,  however,  and  he  who  had  done  so  much  for 
others  who  were  blind,  was  saved  from  that  sad  calamity 
himself.  He  was  able  to  keep  his  books  with  his  own 
hand  till  the  last  few  months  of  his  life. 

Colonel  Perkins  was  a  remarkably  noble  looking  man, 
with  the  dignified  manners  which  characterize  the  gentle- 
men of  the  old  school,  now  too  seldom  seen. 

In  1852,  Daniel  Webster  presented  him  with  a  set  of 
his  published  works,  accompanied  by  a  most  complimen- 
tary note  in  his  own  handwriting. 

Colonel  Perkins  was  not  confined  to  his  bed  by  illness 
a  day,  but  died  quite  suddenly  of  prostration  caused  by  a 
surgical  operation,  on  the  llth  of  January,  1854,  in  the 
ninetieth  year  of  his  age. 

As  early  as  1740  there  was  a  house  standing  upon  that 
part  of  Colonel  Perkins'  place  where  his  farm-house  has 
since  stood.  It  was  owned  at  that  time  by  Christopher 
Dyer,  and  afterwards  by  his  son  William. 

Afterwards  Joseph  Woodward  purchased  it,  and  it 
finally  passed  into  the  hands  of  John  Lucas,  who  at  one 
time  owned  a  large  amount  of  real  estate  in  this  town. 
The  rest  of  the  land  belonging  to  the  Perkins'  and  also  the 
Cabot  place,  was  formerly  the  property  of  Hon.  Jonathan 
Mason,  Jonathan  Jackson,  Mr.  Heath,  and  others,  but  was 
not  occupied  by  dwelling  houses  until  purchased  by  the 
above-mentioned  gentlemen.  At  the  time  Colonel  Perkins 
built  his  house  the  site  commanded  an  uninterrupted  view 
of  Boston,  and  Colonel  Perkins  so  planned  his  house  as  to 
command  the  fine  prospect  from  his  parlor  windows.  The 
whole  line  of  the  Mill-dam,  and  the  beautiful  expanse  of 
Charles  River  and  the  Back  Bay  were  included  in  this 
extensive  panorama.  Trees  and  buildings  long  since  in- 


360  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF    BROOKLINE. 

terposed  a  barrier  which  shuts  out  this  lovely  view,  and 
miles  of  streets  with  solid  blocks  of  brick  and  stone  houses, 
stand  where  the  tide  then  rose  and  fell,  and  obscure  Bos- 
ton Common  from  all  the  high  points  which  once  over- 
looked it. 

The  old  Cabot  house,  which  stood  upon  the  site  of  Mr. 
William  Gray's  present  residence,  was  built  for  Mr.  Sam- 
uel Cabot  in  the  year  1806,  by  Mr.  Murdock.  During 
this  year  occurred  the  total  eclipse  of  the  sun,  still  re- 
membered by  aged  persons  f qr  the  great  darkness  which 
prevailed,  so  that  fowls  went  to  roost  and  cattle  returned 
to  their  various  places  of  shelter.  The  workmen  upon 
this  house  abandoned  their  tools,  and  in  common  with 
everbody  else  went  out  to  witness  the  impressive  spectacle, 
—  all  but  one  youth  ;  who  declined  to  thus  far  trouble  him- 
self. This  hero  was  the  future  Capt.  Benjamin  Bradley. 
Those  who  remembered  the  man.  will  recognize  the  inci- 
dent as  characteristic.  The  old  family  nurse  indignantly 
expressed  her  opinion  that  "  that  fellow  would  live  to  be 
hanged." 

The  next  house  was  built  in  1824  by  Colonel  Perkins, 
for  his  daughter,  Mrs.  Cabot,  by  whom  it  is  still  occupied. 

COTTAGE   STREET. 

In  continuing  our  sketches  of  Warren  Street,  we  passed 
Cottage  Street  without  mention.  We  now  return  to  that 
street,  as  upon  it  was  one  of  the  earliest  settlements  in 
the  town. 

Nearly  upon  the  site  of  the  late  Captain  Cook's  cottage 
was  the  residence  of  Thomas  Buckminster,  who  came 
hither  from  England  in  1640.  This  ancient  family  dates 
back  as  far  as  1216  in  the  English  records.  Thomas 
Buckminster,  grandfather  of  the  one  who  settled  in  this 
town,  was  the  author  of  an  almanac  printed  in  London 


THOMAS  BUCKMINSTER'S  FARM.  361 

in  1599,  and  a  copy  of  this  curious  old  book  has  been 
preserved  in  the  family  down  to  the  present  time. 

Thomas  Buckminster  of  Muddy  River  was  made  a 
"  freeman,"  as  in  the  old  meaning  of  the  term  becoming 
a  communicant  of  the  church  was  called,  and  received 
from  the  General  Court  a  grant  of  a  tract  of  land  valued 
at  ten  pounds. 

His  descendant,  Mrs.  Eliza  Buckminster  Lee,  for  many 
'years  a  resident  of  Brookline,  in  writing  of  her  ancestor, 
savs :  — 

ti 

"  If  we  may  infer  anything  from  the  selection  of  Thomas 
Buckminster's  farm  in  Brookline.  he  must  have  had  an  eye  for 
picturesque  beauty.  His  dwelling  stood  at  the  foot  of  wooded 
heights,  covered  with  a  dense  shrubbery,  and  fringed  all  up  the 
rocky  sides  with  delicate  pensile  branches  and  hanging  vines. 
A  rapid  brook  descending  from  these  rocky  heights,  ran  past 
his  door,  spreading  out  and  winding  in  the  meadows  in  front. 
Jamaica  Lake,  a  quarter  of  a  mile  distant,  embosomed  in  beauti- 
ful undulations  of  hill  and  valley,  slept  tranquilly  in  full  sight 
of  the  house." 

This  place  and  neighborhood  even  yet  retains  much  of 
the  rural  beauty  which  distinguished  it  in  those  remote 
days,  and  culture  has  added  new  attractions  to  the  sur- 
roundings. 

The  elder  Buckminster  died  in  1656.  His  eldest  son, 
Lawrence,  returned  to  England. 

The  wills  of  both  these  gentlemen  are  recorded  in  the 
Suffolk  Probate  office.  Joseph  Buckminster  succeeded 
his  father  upon  the  farm  in  Brookline.  His  son  Joseph 
married  Martha  Sharp,  the  daughter  of  the  brave  Lieu- 
tenant who  fell  in  Sudbury  fight,  and  removed  from  Brook- 
line  to  Framingham.  A  further  sketch  of  this  branch  of 
the  Buckminster  family  is  to  be  found  in  the  chapter  on 

24 


362  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

the  Sharp  family.  From  this  Brookline  couple  descended 
the  Buckminsters  of  Rutland,  Mass.,  and  afterwards  the 
eminent  Dr.  Buckminster  of  Portsmouth,  whose  distin- 
guished son  was  pastor  of  the  Brattle  Street  Church, 
and  whose  daughter,  Mrs.  Eliza  Buckminster  Lee,  was  the 
wife  of  Thomas  Lee  of  this  town,  who  brought  his  bride 
to  this  home  of  her  remote  ancestors  to  live  on  a  part  of 
the  original  Buckminster  farm. 

There  seems  to  be  much  obscurity  about  the  history  of 
this  old  place  for  many  years,  but  in  1740  it  was  owned 
by  Henry  Winchester.  For  more  than  eighty  years  it 
was  owned  by  his  descendants,  his  son  Joseph  and  his 
grandson  Nathaniel  being  his  successors.  The  last  of  the 
Winchesters  who  resided  here  died  in  1808.  The  old 
Winchester  house,  as  it  was  called,  was  taken  down  in 
1826. 

Captain  Cook  purchased  the  place  and  made  it  a  taste- 
ful and  beautiful  residence.  He  also  built  two  houses 
near  his  own  for  his  two  sons,  —  one  in  the  valley,  and  the 
other  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street.  One  of  them 
lived  in  the  cottage  a  short  time  only,  and  the  other  died 
without  ever  occupying  the  residence  intended  for  him. 
The  Captain  and  his  wife  both  lived  to  a  great  age,  and 
died  in  the  house  in  the  valley.  The  original  place  which 
he  beautified,  now  the  property  of  Mr.  Jerome  W.  Tyler, 
is  known  as  "  Linden  Terrace." 

The  Lee  place  lies  in  Brookline,  though  the  entrance 
to  it  is  from  Perkins  Street  in  Roxbury.  Mr.  Lee 
was  a  great  lover  of  natural  beauty,  and  preserved  the 
forest  trees  which  adorned  his  place,  and  admired  the  nat- 
ural rocks  with  their  wild  mosses  and  vines  about  them, 
too  much  to  permit  them  to  be  removed  by  blasting. 
What  a  man  of  less  taste  would  have  regarded  as  blem- 
ishes, he  looked  upon  with  the  true  eye  of  one  who  lived 


GODDARD   AVENUE.  363 

close  to  the  heart  of  Nature,  and  won  from  her  many  a 
secret. 

On  this  beautiful  place  his  gifted  wife  wrote  several  of 
the  volumes  which  have  become  a  part  of  the  literature  of 
the  land,  and  in  the  unpretending  cottage  she  died  but  a 
few  years  since. 

This  place  has  since  Mr.  Lee's  death  become  the  prop- 
erty of  Ignatius  Sargent,  Esq. 

GODDARD   AVENUE. 

This  beautiful  avenue,  diverging  at  right  angles  from 
Cottage  Street  on  the  south  side,  takes  its  name  from  one 
of  the  old  Brookline  families.  The  original  road  was 
only  a  farm  lane  or  cart-road  leading  to  the  farm  and 
dwelling  of  the  Goddard  family.  The  principal  entrance 
to  this  place  from  Brookline,  however,  was  through  land 
now  on  the  Winthrop  place  on  Warren  Street.  There 
was  an  old  road  through  the  woods  also,  toward  Jamaica 
Plain,  in  the  earliest  days  of  the  settlement,  and  a  new 
road  has  been  quite  recently  laid  out  over  almost  the 
same  track.  The  part  called  Avon  Street  is  of  recent 
date.  The  old  Goddard  house  still  standing  dates  back 
a  hundred  years,  but  the  original  house,  like  the  original 
family,  was  far  more  ancient  than  that.  The  family  gen- 
ealogy, which  has  been  carefully  traced  out  and  published, 
dates  back  to  William  Goddard,  a  citizen  and  grocer  of 
London,  who  came  to  Boston  in  1665.  His  wife  and  three 
young  sons  came  the  following  year.  They  settled  in 
Watertown,  and  there  Mr.  Goddard  was  hired  as  a  teach- 
er. An  old  record  of  that  place  reads  as  follows  :  — 

"March  27,  1680.  These  are  to  certify  that  Mr.  William 
Goddard  of  Watertown  whorne  the  said  towne  by  covenanting 
agreed  to  teach  such  children  as  should  be  sent  to  him  to  learn 
the  rules  of  the  Latin  tongue,  hath  those  accomplishments,  which 


364  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

render  him  capable  to  discharge  the  trust  (in  that  respect)  com- 
mitted to  him. 

(Signed)  JOHN  SHERMAN,  Pastor" 

The  second  son  of  this  William  Goddard,  Joseph,  born  in 
London  in  1655,  was  the  first  of  the  name  who  settled  in 
Brookline.  He  married  in  Watertown,  Deborah  Tread- 
way,  and  came  to  Brookline  in  1680,  and  settled  upon  the 
farm  where  his  posterity  still  live. 

His  son  John,  and  afterwards  his  grandson  of  the  same 
name,  succeeded  him  on  the  place.  The  latter,  born  in 
1730,  was  a  distinguished  citizen  of  this  town.  During 
the  Revolutionary  War  Mr.  Goddard  was  a  commissary- 
general  for  the  American  army  in  this  vicinity. 

During  the  seige  of  Boston  Mr.  Goddard  was  intrusted 
with  the  command  of  three  hundred  teams,  which  worked 
in  darkness  and  by  stealth  in  constructing  the  fortifica- 
tions on  Dorchester  Heights,  now  South  Boston.  The 
absolute  silence  of  the  men,  the  promptness  and  efficiency 
with  which  they  labored,  and  the  success  which  crowned 
their  efforts,  were  no  doubt  largely  owing  to  the  firmness, 
courage,  and  tact  of  the  sturdy  patriot  in  charge.  Captain 
Joseph  Goddard,  who  at  that  time  was  a  boy  of  fourteen, 
was  a  driver  of  one  of  the  teams  under  his  father's  direc- 
tion, and  often  described  the  event  to  his  children  and 
friends  now  living. 

Not  a  whip  was  allowed  among  the  men  on  that  moon- 
light March  night  when  the  fortifications  on  the  Heights 
were  the  scene  of  such  busy  excitement,  lest  some  incau- 
tious crack  might  betray  them,  but  the  oxen  were  urged 
on  with  goads.  The  saplings  for  the  fascines  were  cut  in 
the  woods  between  Dorchester  and  Milton,  and  combined 
with  fresh  hay,  made  a  light,  though  bulky  material, 
easily  piled  up.  No  wonder  that  General  Howe,  looking 
over  from  Boston  the  next  morning,  thought  that  "  the 


MR.  GODDARD'S  PATRIOTISM.  365 

Americans  had  done  more  in  one  night  than  his  whole 
army  could  do  in  weeks."  He  did  not  know  what  had 
been  going  on  in  the  woods  within  six  miles  of  his  army. 
Four  or  five  pieces  of  cannon  which  had  been  concealed 
under  the  hay  in  Mr.  Goddard's  barn  for  weeks,  were  on 
this  night  stealthily  removed  to  their  destination,  being 
taken  round  through  Heath  Street  in  Roxbury,  and  placed 
in  position  on  Dorchester  Heights. 

In  a  shed  or  shop-building  opposite  the  house,  were 
several  hundred  pounds  of  gunpowder  stored  in  the  loft. 
A  garrison  of  several  soldiers  occupied  this  building,  liv- 
ing in  the  lower  story,  while  they  and  the  patriotic  heroes 
of  the  house  knew  that  one  unfortunate  spark  might  at 
any  moment  blow  them  all  into  eternity.  All  this  time 
a  sentinel  was  kept  on  the  Goddard  place  to  guard  the 
premises. 

The  British  officers  (who  were  often  out  to  Mr.  Hul- 
ton's  where  Mr.  Chapin  now  lives)  and  who  were  fre- 
quently entertained  at  the  expense  of  a  female  Tory,  who 
lived  on  the  place  now  belonging  to  the  family  of  the  late 
Samuel  Goddard,  occasionally  rode  through  the  woods 
and  about  among  the  farm-houses,  but  they  failed  to  dis- 
cover anything  which  compromised  the  wary  patriots.  A 
British  deserter,  however,  found  his  way  through  the 
woods  to  this  retired  place  one  day,  and  coming  in  sight 
of  the  house,  which  was  then  quite  new,  and  was  hand- 
somely painted,  unlike  most  of  the  houses  of  the  vicinity, 
was  afraid  to  go  to  it.  Seeing  some  men  at  work  011  the 
place,  he  ventured  to  approach,  and  inquired  if  that  was 
"  the  Governor's  house."  He  was  taken  to  the  house,  his 
wants  were  kindly  provided  for,  and  after  a  good  night's 
rest  he  was  able  to  proceed  in  his  laudable  purpose  of  put- 
ting all  the  space  possible  between  himself  and  King 
George's  troops.  Had  one  traitorous  Tory  or  half -hearted, 


366  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

corruptible  friend,  discovered  those  cannon  being  drawn 
quietly  by  night  up  that  farm-lane  to  the  hiding  place,  it 
would  have  cost  the  brave  old  farmer  his  life. 

There  was  reason  to  believe,  however,  after  a  time,  that 
suspicion  had  been  roused  respecting  the  concealed  army 
stores,  and  they  were  removed  to  Concord,  Mr.  Goddard 
himself  driving  one  of  the  teams  the  whole  distance. 

On  one  occasion  when  passing  on  horseback  over 
Charlestown  Neck,  he  overtook  a  loaded  team.  The  dri- 
ver was  in  some  difficulty  respecting  his  oxen,  and  Mr. 
Goddard  dismounted  to  help  him.  He  stepped  between 
the  oxen,  but  in  a  moment  his  horse  was  startled,  and  he 
sprang  forward  to  seize  him.  At  the  same  instant  a  ball 
fired  from  a  British  frigate  in  the  river  struck  the  ox-yoke 
and  shivered  it  into  fragments. 

Mr.  Goddard  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  battle  of  Lex- 
ington, and  on  that  memorable  day  a  Brookline  man  who 
had  no  gun,  but  was  eager  for  the  fray,  borrowed  of  Mr. 
Goddard  a  fowling-piece,  which  he  carried  into  the  fight. 
During  the  action,  however,  the  gun  somehow  was  lost. 
Several  years  afterward  when  Mr.  Goddard  was  one  day 
on  his  way  to  Sherborn,  he  stopped  at  the  "  way-side 
inn."  There,  on  a  rack  over  the  wide  chimney  piece,  he 
saw  what  he  supposed  to  be  the  identical  gun  which  had 
been  lost.  He  asked  permission  of  the  landlord  to  exam- 
ine it,  and  at  once  on  handling  it,  identified  it  beyond  dis- 
pute. The  landlord  being  convinced,,  gave  up  the  gun  to 
its  rightful  owner,  who  brought  it  home,  and  kept  it  till  his 
grandson  (our  late  Representative)  was  old  enough  to  use 
it,  when  he  gave  it  to  him  as  a  Revolutionary  relic.  It  is 
still  in  existence  among  the  Goddards,  though  it  has  gone 
from  Brookline. 

When  the  American  army  removed  from  Boston  to 
New  York,  General  Washington  was  urgent  that  Mr. 


THE   GODDARDS.  367 

Goddard  should  accompany  them,  but  his  large  family 
was  a  sufficiently  strong  reason  why  lie  should  decline 
such  service. 

When  the  Federal  Government  was  established,  Mr. 
Goddard  was  chosen  as  the  Representative  of  this  town 
in  the  State  Legislature,  from  1785  to  1792. 

Mr.  Goddard  was  twice  married.  His  first  wife  lived 
but  two  years  ;  the  second,  Hannah  Seaver,  a  most  ex- 
cellent, energetic,  and  highly  esteemed  woman,  brought 
up  a  family  of  sixteen  children.  When  some  inquisitive 
or  sympathizing  friend  in  later  years  asked  how  she  man- 
aged with  such  a  host  of  little  ones,  she  laughingly  replied 
that  she  "  put  leather  aprons  on  them  all  and  turned  them 
out  to  play." 

Mrs.  Goddard  is  still  remembered,  and  her  virtues  are 
often  recounted.  Mr.  Goddard  removed  in  the  latter 
part  of  his  life  to  the  house  now  occupied  by  George  W. 
Stearns,  opposite  the  old  Reservoir,  and  in  this  house  he 
died,  in  1816,  at  the  age  of  eighty-six  years.  Mrs.  God- 
dard also  died  at  the  same  age,  in  1821. 

John  Goddard,  born  1756,  the  eldest  son  of  this  couple, 
was  a  child  of  delicate  and  sensitive  organization,  but 
great  powers  of  mind.  When  less  than  nine  years  of  age 
he  had  committed  to  memory  and  recited  to  Rev.  Joseph 
Jackson  of  the  First  Church,  the  whole  book  of  Proverbs, 
and  the  119th  Psalm.  He  attended  the  Brookline  schools, 
and  entered  Harvard  College  just  before  the  Revolution- 
ary War.  He  was  interrupted  in  his  course  by  a  long 
and  severe  fit  of  illness,  and  by  the  events  of  the  war,  but 
notwithstanding  maintained  a  high  rank  in  his  class.  He 
graduated  in  1777  as  a  physician,  a  student  with  the 
highly  esteemed  Dr.  A.  R.  Cutter  of  Portsmouth,  but 
owing  to  his  delicate  health  preferred  to  commence  busi- 
ness as  an  apothecary.  He  obtained  a  situation  as  sur- 


368  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

geon  on  one  of  our  armed  vessels,  intending  thus  to  go  to 
Spain  to  procure  his  stock,  which  the  war  prevented  him 
from  purchasing  in  England.  On  the  way,  however,  the 
vessel  was  captured  by  the  British,  and  he  with  the  rest 
of  the  officers  were  carried  as  prisoners  to  one  of  the  West 
India  Islands.  Here  he  was  brought  to  the  verge  of  death 
by  a  terrible  fever,  which  so  emaciated  his  body  that 
when  convalescent  he  crawled  through  a  port-hole  of  the 
prison-ship  and  escaped  by  swimming  to  a  vessel  which 
put  him  on  his  way  to  the  United  States.  Just  before 
he  reached  home,  however,  this  vessel  was  captured,  and 
he  was  again  a  prisoner.  Another  exhausting  fit  of  sick- 
ness followed  in  the  same  prison-ship  from  which  he  had 
escaped.  He  so  far  recovered  as  to  make  his  escape  once 
more,  and  this  time  reached  home  in  safety,  but  the  shock 
to  his  constitution  was  so  severe  that  he  never  fully  re- 
covered from  it. 

After  the  war  was  over  he  married  Susanna  Heath, 
daughter  of  Mr.  John  Heath  of  Brookline,  and  settled  in 
Portsmouth,  where  he  engaged  in  the  drug  business. 
His  talents  every  way  fitted  him  for  eminent  public  life, 
and  he  was,  contrary  to  his  wishes,  elected  Governor  of 
New  Hampshire,  which  office  he  however  positively  de- 
clined to  accept.  He  was  also  chosen  Senator  to  Con- 
gress, but  being  as  decided  in  this  as  iu  the  former  case, 
the  country  was  deprived  of  the  services  of  an  excellent 
man.  He  also  enjoined  upon  his  sons  a  similar  absti- 
nence from  public  life ;  for  what  reason  we  are  not  in- 
formed. One  can  hardly  help  wishing  such  delicacy  might 
oftener  prevail,  but  not  in  cases  where  it  would  deprive 
the  country  of  the  services  of  true  and  competent  men. 

Mr.  Goddard  was  married  four  times.  His  second  mar- 
riage, to  Miss  Jane  Boyd,  was  soon  terminated  by  her 
death.  The  third  wife  was  a  daughter  of  Dr.  Laugdon 


THE   GODDARDS.  369 

of  Portsmouth,  formerly  President  of  Harvard  College. 
The  fourth  was  Anne  White  of  Brookline. 

Mr.  Goddard  died  in  Portsmouth,  but  some  of  his  chil- 
dren have  returned  to  reside  in  this  home  of  their  ances- 
tors. One  of  the  sons  of  Dr.  John  Goddard  is  the  Rev. 
Warren  Goddard  of  Bridgewater,  a  graduate  of  Harvard 
College,  in  the  class  of  1818.  He  was  for  some  time  Pre- 
ceptor of  Princeton  Academy.  Rev.  Mr.  Goddard  is  one 
of  the  oldest  and  ablest  ministers  of  the  New  Church,  or 
the  denomination  oftener  known  as  Swedenborgian.  His 
son,  Rev.  John  Goddard,  of  Cincinnati,  is  also  a  distin- 
gished  exponent  of  the  same  faith.*  Richard  Langdon 
Goddard,  another  son  of  Dr.  John  Goddard,  is  a  mer- 
chant of  New  York.  These  gentlemen  were  sons  of  the 
third  Mrs.  Goddard,  President  Langdon's  daughter. 

Mr.  Joseph  Goddard,  who  settled  upon  the  farm  of  his 
father  in  Brookline,  was,  during  his  long  and  prosperous 
life,  a  prominent  citizen  of  Brookline.  He  was  a  justice 
of  the  peace  for  many  years,  and  was  captain  of  the  mili- 
tia of  the  town.  He  married  Mary,  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
Aspinwall,  of  this  town.  Of  the  twelve  children  of  Mr. 
Joseph  Goddard,  several  are  widely  known.  The  eldest 
daughter  married  Captain  George  W.  Stearns,  and  their 
numerous  descendants  are  among  our  highly  respected 
townspeople.  One  of  his  sons  is  our  late  Representative, 
and  another  is  Samuel  Aspinwall  Goddard,  of 'Birming- 
ham, England,  whose  name  deserves  to  be  held  in  per- 
petual and  honored  remembrance,  for  the  invaluable  ser- 
vices rendered  our  country  by  his  patriotic  pen  during  the 
late  rebellion.  Though  from  his  early  manhood  he  has 
been  a  resident  of  England,  and  was  even  naturalized 
there  by  act  of  Parliament,  he  has  ever  retained  a  pro- 

*  Rev.  Warren  Goddard  of  High  Street  Church,  Brookline,  is  a  younger  sou 
of  Mr.  Goddard  of  Bridgewater.  (1874.) 


370  HISTORICAL     SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

found  respect  and  love  of  his  native  land,  its  government, 
and  its  institutions,  worthy  of  the  son  of  his  distinguished 
and  patriotic  ancestry. 

From  the  beginning  of  the  Rebellion,  when  England 
in  unfraternal  haste  was  eager  to  recognize  the  Southern 
Confederacy,  with  its  basis  on  slavery,  and  rebel  emis- 
saries both  Southern  and  English  were  filling  the  columns 
of  the  British  papers  with  false  statements  respecting 
both  North  and  South,  Mr.  Goddard's  pen  was  untiring 
in  its  refutations  of  these  falsities.  His  clear  and  exten- 
sive knowledge  of  his  native  country,  and  of  England,  his 
familiarity  with  history,  his  utter  detestation  of  any  tyr- 
anny of  man  over  his  fellow  man,  and  his  fearlessness  in 
daring  to  write  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing 
but  the  truth,  over  his  own  signature  in  the  face  of  oppo- 
sition and  hate,  all  fitted  him  to  wield  the  pen,  for  the 
cause  of  right,  with  a  force  that  made  it  mightier  than 
the  sword.  If  his  grandfather,  toiling  by  night  within 
range  of  British  bullets,  did  faithful  service  in  establish- 
ing our  national  freedom,  not  the  less  did  his  own  power- 
ful pen  do  glorious  service  in  guarding  that  freedom 
against  British  plotting  with  home  traitors  to  overthrow 
it.  To  no  one  man's  efforts  are  we  more  indebted  for 
the  failure  of  the  British  to  recognize  the  Southern  Con- 
federacy among  the  nations,  than  to  those  of  Mr.  God- 
dard.  John  Bright  himself  recognized  and  acknowledged 
the  strength  which  he  received  in  his  own  honorable 
course  from  Mr.  Goddard's  able  statements  and  unan- 
swerable arguments. 

Mr.  Goddard  received  his  only  school-education  in  the 
old  brick  school-house  near  the  Unitarian  Church,  but  he 
may  be  called  a  self-made  man.  To  a  man  with  his 
powers  of  mind,  all  of  life  is  education,  and  strength  is 
gathered  from  a  thousand  resources  scarcely  known  to  the 


THE   GODDARDS.  371 

mere  student  of  the  classics.  The  boy  who  has  awakened 
in  him  a  love  of  books,  and  knows  how  to  use  them, 
holds  the  key  to  all  knowledge,  and  life  and  nature  will 
be  his  teachers. 

The  articles  which  he  wrote  for  the  various  British 
papers  have  been  reprinted  in  a  large  volume,  and  will 
form  a  valuable  reference  book  for  the  future  historian. 
This  work  has  been  presented  to  our  Public  Library 
by  A.  W.  Goddard,  Esq.,  and  is  worthy  of  a  place  in 
every  library. 

Captain  Joseph  Goddard  was  a  man  of  energetic  health, 
until  the  last  few  months  of  his  life.  He  died  in  1846, 
aged  eighty-six. 

Another  prominent  citizen  of  this  town,  born  in  the 
old  house,  was  Mr.  Benjamin  Goddard,  who  lived  "op- 
posite the  Reservoir.  He  was  a  man  of  intelligence  and 
much  influence,  though  he  never  would  accept  or  hold 
any  public  office.  He  acquired  much  wealth  and  lived 
to  a  great  age,  being  over  ninety-five  years  of  age  at  his 
death.  His  brothers,  Nathaniel  and  William  Goddard, 
were  successful  merchants.  A  son  of  the  latter  is  one 
of  the  owners  of  "  Bradley's  Hill."  *  There  are  branches 
of  this  family  in  Worcester  County  and  other  places,  all 
of  whom  originated  in  Brookline,  from  the  first  Goddard 
family.  Mr.  Samuel  Aspinwall  Goddard,  having  oc- 
casion to  investigate  a  case  in  England,  which  led  to  re- 
searches into  the  remote  history  of  his  family,  a  few 
years  since,  was  successful  in  tracing  back  this  old  family 
in  an  unbroken  line  to  the  time  of  William  the  Con- 
queror. On  this  side  of  the  water,  the  name  bids  fair 
to  exist  as  long,  at  least,  as  that  of  any  other  family  of 
New  England.  No  other  house  and  land  in  Brookline, 
except  the  Aspinwall  possessions,  have  been  so  long  in 
one  family. 

*  Now  called  "Clifton  Hill." 


372  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINR 

The  first  Joseph  Goddard  found  this  place  in  possession 
of  William  Marean,  son  of  Dorman  Marean,  who  was 
the  first  white  settler  upon  it.  From  Joseph  Goddard's 
time  down  to  the  present,  there  have  been  six  generations 
born  upon  the  place.  The  present  old  house  was  built 
in  1761,  but  has  been  kept  in  thorough  repair  and  sub- 
jected to  occasional  improvements,  so  that  it  would  not 
be  supposed  to  be  more  than  half  that  age.  From  the 
retirement  of  this  secluded  Brookline  farm-house,  have 
gone  forth  men  whose  strength  of  character  has  made 
them  a  power  in  society,  both  at  home  and  abroad. 


CLYDE   STREET.  373 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

CLYDE  STREET.  -  NEWTON  STREET.  -  "  PUTTERHAM."  -  THE 
CRAFT  PLACE  (NOW  THE  DENNY  PLACE).  —  THE  OLD  SAW- 
MILL. -  SOUTH  STREET.  -  ANCIENT  HOUSE  ATTACKED  BY 
INDIANS.  -  JAMES  GRIGGS.  -  THE  KENDRICKS. 


Street  dates  back  to  the  year  1715,  when  it 
was  voted,  November  21  :  — 

"  That  there  should  be  an  open  way  laid  out  from  the  south- 
west part  of  Brookline  (to  wit),  from  the  road  that  leadeth 
from  Jamaica  to  Erosamond  Drew's  saw-mill,  across  to  Sher- 
burne  Road,  so  called,  which  accordingly  was  effected  by  the 
selectmen,  viz.,  Captain  Samuel  Aspinwall,  Thomas  Stedman, 
and  John  Winchester,  Jr.,  who  have  agreed  with  all  the  pro- 
prietors, and  the  damage  by  running  said  way  through  their 
property,  has  been  paid  as  appears  in  the  account  book  of  said 
Town  of  Brookline.  The  aforesaid  highway,  beginning  at  the 
road  leading  from  Roxbury  to  Mr.  Drew's  saw-mill,  as  afore- 
said, near  Isaac  Child's  house,  on  the  east  of  said  house  as  it  is 
staked  out,  and  running  northwardly  through  Isaac  Child's  land, 
to  the  land  of  Samuel  Newell,  and  then  turning  a  little  toward 
the  east,  running  through  the  land  of  Joseph  Dudley,  Esq.,  then 
turning  northwardly  and  running  through  or  upon  part  of 
Joshua  Child's  land,  being  part  of  the  '  Bowers  Farm  '  so  called, 
then  entering  upon  the  land  of  Thomas  Woodward  to  the  land 
of  Joseph  White,  then  turning  a  little  toward  the  east,  running 
to  the  land  of  the  heirs  of  Jonathan  Torrey,  late  of  Brookline 
(alias  Muddy  River,  deceased),  then  running  northwardly  to  the 
road  or  lane,  known  by  the  name  of  'Woodward's  Lane,'  to  the 
road  commonly  known  by  the  name  of  '  Sherburne  Road.'  " 


374  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

It  seems  to  come  next  in  order,  though  not  in  date. 
"  The  road  that  leadeth  from  Jamaica  to  Erosamond 
Drew's  saw-mill,"  was  what  is  now  Newton  Street ;  the 
lane  known  by  the  name  of  "  Woodward's  lane,"  was 
that  part  of  Warren  Street  leading  from  the  present 
westerly  entrance  of  Clyde  Street  to  Heath  Street. 

There  was  no  house  on  Clyde  Street  until  after  this 
date.  The  corner  lot  now  owned  by  Mr.  Cowan*  was 
formerly  a  part  of  the  estate  of  John  Ackers,  being  used 
by  him  for  a  pasture.  There  was  land  on  both  sides  of 
the  street,  belonging  to  Joseph  White.  The  lot  on  the 
west  side  of  Clyde  Street,  just  north  of  the  avenue  lead- 
ing to  the  estate  of  W.  H.  Gardner,  was  in  the  early 
part  of  this  century  owned  by  John  Lucas,  and  was 
called  "  the  Lucas  pasture  "  long  after  it  became  the  prop- 
erty of  Timothy  H.  Child,  an  eccentric  old  man,  known 
as  "  Daddy  Child,"  though  he  was  never  married.  He 
sold  the  pasture  to  Mr.  Cabot  some  twenty-five  years  ago. 

On  the  land  lying  between  Mr.  Gardner's  place  and 
the  "  Stock  farm,"  so  called,  where  there  is  now  a  young 
grove  growing  up,  stood  one  of  the  earliest  houses  built 
in  the  street,  probably  the  very  first.  This  was  built  by 
Andrew  Allard,  afterward  occupied  by  William  Wood- 
ward, and  last  by  "  an  old  countryman,"  probably  a  Scotch- 
man, named  Vaughn.  This  man  died  at  a  very  advanced 
age  in  1775,  and  the  old  house  was  not  long  after  de- 
molished. The  house  now  occupied  by  George  Gold- 
smith was  built  by  John  Woodward,  brother  of  William, 
at  some  time  previous  to  1740,  as  it  was  then  standing. 
The  Woodwards  were  a  numerous  family  in  this  part  of 
the  town  a  hundred  years  ago.  After  the  Woodwards, 
Deacon  Joseph  White  owned  it,  and  then  John  Corey,  a 
distant  connection  of  the  Coreys  of  Washington  Street. 
*  Now  by  the  heirs  of  the  late  Mr.  Cowan. 


THE   SPOONER  PLACE.  375 

He  died  in  1803,  and  a  cabinet  maker,  Erastus  Champ- 
ney,  was  the  next  owner.  John  Dunn,  a  gardener  to 
Mr.  Higginson,  next  owned  it,  and  sold  it  to  the  present 
proprietor. 

The  old  house  on  the  extensive  place  formerly  known 
as  "  the  Stock  farm,"  now  Clyde  Park,  was  built  pre- 
vious to  1740,  by  Samuel  Newell.  He  left  it  to  his  son 
John,  who  was  succeeded  by  Gulliver  Winchester. 

Another  house  a  few  rods  to  the  east,  on  the  same 
place,  was  begun  by  Robert  Holt,  the  next  resident  of 
the  old  house,  but  was  completed  by  Dr.  Spooner,  of 
Boston,  who  lived  here  in  summers  for  many  years,  but 
died  in  Boston  in  1836.  After  him  it  was  occupied  for 
a  while  by  Curtis  Travis,  a  butcher,  who  moved  away 
and  died.  There  have  been  many  residents  upon  this 
place,  but  none  who  have  specially  identified  themselves 
with  the  interests  of  the  town.  On  this  place,  however, 
was  born  Hon.  George  S.  Boutwell,  late  secretary  of 
the  treasury.  William  B.  Spooner  of  Boston  was  also 
born  on  this  place.  The  stone  posts  and  iron  gates  at 
the  entrances  to  the  avenues  were  originally  at  the  Park 
Street  and  Charles  Street  corners  of  Boston  Common. 
When  the  iron  fence  was  built  around  it,  these  were  sold 
and  brought  to  the  Spooner  place. 

The  land  at  this  end  of  Clyde  Street,  on  both  sides, 
was,  at  the  time  of  the  laying  out  of  the  street  in  1715, 
the  property  of  Isaac  Child.  At  this  point  we  enter 
Newton  Street,  but  to  describe  the  places  on  this  ancient 
street,  in  their  order,  we  will  begin  at  the  point  where 
Newton  Street  enters  Brookline,  from  Roxbury.  This 
was  one  of  the  early  highways  of  the  town,  and  had  as 
many,  if  not  more  houses  upon  it  a  hundred  and  more 
years  ago,  than  it  has  at  present.  There  are  two  or  three 
old  and  somewhat  poor  looking  houses  near  the  town  line. 


376  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

Nearly  on  the  site  of  one  of  them,  which  looks  like  an 
old  country  school-house,  formerly  stood  a  house  built 
early  in  the  last  century  by  Timothy  Harris.  It  will  be 
remembered  by  many  Brookline  people  as  the  residence 
of  Alvin  Loker.  It  was  destroyed  by  fire  more  than 
twenty  years  ago.  Next  it  is  a  small,  old-fashioned  house 
close  to  the  street,  on  the  site  of  one  also  owned  a  hun- 
dred years  ago  by  Timothy  Harris.  The  present  house 
was  built  in  1805,  by  his  widow,  and  was  afterwards 
occupied  by  the  eccentric  old  bachelor,  before  mentioned 
as  "  Daddy  Child,"  or  Timothy  Harris  Child.  Various 
anecdotes  are  related  respecting  his  oddities,  as  leaving 
off  his  farmers'  frock  on  a  certain  day  in  the  spring,  by 
the  calendar,  without  regard  to  the  weather,  and  putting 
it  on  in  the  autumn,  equally  regardless  of  the  season. 
Between  these  dates  he  was  never  known  to  wear  it. 
He  had  a  certain  routine,  which  he  followed,  in  taking 
down  a  pair  of  bars,  and  from  which  he  never  varied. 
It  would  seem  quite  desirable  that  a  mind  so  inclined  to 
run  in  grooves  should  get  started  in  the  right  ones,  but 
perhaps  the  best  thing  he  ever  did,  was  one  the  most 
unlooked  for.  He  was  for  many  years  addicted  to  the 
excessive  use  of  liquors,  and  returning  from  the  store 
one  day  with  his  customary  black  jug  of  rum,  he  met 
one  of  his  neighbors,  who  said  to  him :  — 

"  Mr.  Child,  I'll  tell  you  what  is  the  best  possible  use 
you  can  make  of  that  black  jug  of  yours." 

"  What  is  that  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  Why,  you  just  carry  it  up  to  the  top  of  the  hill  there, 
and  bury  it,"  was  the  reply. 

"  Well,  I'll  do  it,"  said  the  old  man,  and  he  carried 
the  black  jug  to  the  top  of  the  hill,  dug  a  deep  hole  and 
buried  it,  and  never  dug  it  up  again.  From  that  time 
forward  he  drank  no  more  liquor,  and  was  as  steady  as 


MOUNT   W ALLEY.  377 

the  most  faithful  adherent  to  a  temperance  pledge.  One 
might  wish  many  modern  jugs  and  bottles  could  share  a 
similar  fate. 

NEWTON    STREET,    "  PUTTER  HAM." 

Passing  westward  on  Newton  Street,  we  reach  "  the 
old  W  alley  place,"  so  called,  afterwards  known  as  "  the 
Tilden  place."  This  old,  square,  hip-roofed  house  has 
had  many  owners.  It  was  built  early  in  the  last  cen- 
tury, but  is  still  apparently  in  tolerably  good  condition. 
Joshua  Child  was  its  first  owner  and  occupant.  His  de- 
scendants, of  another  name,  still  live  in  our  town.  The 
Hon.  Samuel  H.  Walley  was  for  many  years  a  resident 
here,  and  the  place  took  its  name  from  him. 

The  high  hill,  now  known  as  Mount  Walley,  was 
during  the  Revolution  one  of  the  outposts  of  Washing- 
ton's line  of  circumvallation  around  Boston,  and  from 
here  a  watch  was  kept  (as  from  all  the  principal  hills) 
upon  the  enemy's  movements.  A  local  tradition  has 
always  been  preserved  that  Washington  at  one  time 
visited  this  outpost,  and  entered  the  house  of  Joshua 
Child. 

Soon  after  passing  this  place,  we  come  to  the  point 
where  the  new  extension  of  Goddard  Avenue  opens  upon 
Newton  Street,  vthus  making  a  —  we  had  almost  said, 
direct  communication  with  Cottage  Street,  through  the 
once  secluded  acres  of  the  Goddard  farm.  We  consider 
again  and  write  circuitous,  instead  of  direct.  .  Perhaps 
there  were  the  best  of  reasons  for  the  remarkable  curves 
which  this  street  describes,  only  it  seems  a  little  singular 
that  when  so  much  pains  and  money  are  spent  to 
straighten^  at  the  expense  of  fine  shade  trees,  in  some 
parts  of  the  town,  there  should  be  such  an  apparent 
enthusiasm  for  curves  in  other  places  where  it  is  difficult 

25 


378  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF    BROOKL1NK. 

to  discover  anything  gained  by  them.     But  we  leave  the 
problem  for  the  initiated. 

The  next  house  upon  the  street,  dating  back  any  length 
of  time,  is  the  one  now  owned  and  occupied  by  "W.  A. 
Humphrey.  This  house  was  built  by  Isaac  Child,  who 
had  died  and  left  it  to  his  son  Isaac,  previous  to  1770. 
There  are  no  traditions  of  historical  interest  that  we  can 
learn  respecting  it.  It  was  occupied,  after  the  time  of 
the  Childs,  by  Elisha  Whitney,  then  by  Major  Asa  Whit- 
ney, his  son,  and  afterwards  for  many  years  by  Samuel 
Hills.  The  -house  has  been  raised  and  greatly  improved 
by  its  present  owner,  and  is  one  of  the  most  attractive 
places  on  the  street. 

A  long  avenue  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  led 
in,  to  a  remote  house  owned  and  occupied  in  the  last 
century  by  Robert  and  John  Harris.  The  third  and 
last  John  Harris  died  at  a  great  age  in  1831.  It  must 
have  been  somewhat  like  pioneer  life  to  have  lived  in 
this  out  of  the  way  region,  even  within  the  last  fifty 
years. 

On  the  northwest  side  of  the  street,  at  some  distance 
further  on,  stands  the  little,  one-story  temple  of  learning, 
long  known  as  "  Putterham  school-house."  The  origin 
of  this  name,  "  Putterham,"  which  long  clung  to  this 
picturesque  part  of  our  town,  has  been  for  years  a  prob- 
lem, unsolved,  to  the  minds  of  the  dwellers  in  the  lower 
and  populous  part  of  the  town.  There  seems  to  be  an 
innate  love  of  applying  absurd,  ridiculous,  or  grotesque 
titles  to  certain  localities,  and  hardly  a  country  town  but 
has  its  "  Purgatory,"  or  "  Squash  End,"  or  "  Grab  Vil- 
lage," or  "  Skunk's  Misery,"  or  some  other  ill-savored 
appellation  for  some  particular  spot.  But  the  euphonious 
title  of  "  Putterham,"  seems  to  have  been  exclusively 
reserved  for  the  southwest  part  of  our  beautiful  town. 


PUTTERHAM   SCHOOL-HOUSE.  379 

In  seeking  to  sift  the  matter  to  its  origin,  we  have  been 
informed  by  more  than  one  of  the  old  inhabitants  that 
there  was,  or  is  a  little  spot  of  meadow  land  beside  New- 
ton Street,  about  half-way  from  the  school-house  to  New- 
ton line,  on  which  a  hundred  years  ago,  a  man,  who  was 
a  sort  of  shiftless  do-little,  might  be  seen  "  puttering," 
from  day  to  day  the  season  through,  by  any  passer-by. 
But  no  results  ever  were  to  be  discovered,  and  that  lot 
of  land  received  the  nickname  of  Putterham,  which 
gradually  extended  over  a  much  wider  region,  till  it 
became  common  for  the  dwellers  in  the  populous  parts 
of  the  town  to  designate  all  this  sparsely  settled  section 
of  the  town  as  Putterham,  and  the  school-house  and  the 
saw-mill  also  shared  the  title.  A  better  taste  is  now 
casting  this  old  name  aside. 

The  little  old  building  above  alluded  to  stands  on  the 
site  of  one  which  was  no  ornament  to  the  neighborhood, 
and  was  destroyed  by  fire  some  fifty  years  ago.  The 
present  building,  though  small,  has  of  late  years  been 
kept  in  repair,  and  meets  the  wants  of  the  thinly  settled 
neighborhood.  The  beautiful  woods  and  rocks  by  which 
it  is  environed,  afford  the  children  delightful  recreations 
not  to  be  found  in  the  neighborhood  of  elegant  public ' 
buildings  and  concrete  pavements.  "  Foot-ball "  and 
"  tag,"  ought  to  be  at  a  discount  where  the  wild  vines 
cling  and  the  velvety  mosses  and  gray  lichens  grow,  and 
the  oaks  drop  down  their  shining  acorns,  and  the  bold  and 
saucy  squirrels  chatter  almost  within  arm's  reach. 

Many  a  beautiful  lesson  may  be  learned  in  this  wild 
region  not  set  down  in  "  Colburn's,"  or  mapped  out  by 
Guyot,  but  perhaps  quite  as  useful  in  cultivating  eye,  and 
head,  and  heart,  and  quite  as  strength-giving  against  the 
weary  days  that  are  sure  to  come  to  us  all  sometime. 


380  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

"  Still  waits  kind  Nature  to  impart 

Her  choicest  gifts  to  those  who  gain 
An  entrance  to  her  loving  heart 

Through  the  sharp  discipline  of  pain." 

A  few  rods  west  of  the  Newton  Street  school-house,  on 
the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  there  stood  formerly  an  old 
house  which  was  built  and  occupied  by  William  Davis, 
who  died  there  in  1777.  The  house  had  many  owners 
afterwards,  and  was,  when  too  old  for  further  use,  demol- 
ished in  1809.  Traces  of  the  old  cellar  are  still  to  be 
seen.  On  the  west  side  still  further  on  is  a  somewhat  old 
house  still  owned  and  occupied  by  members  of  the  Wood- 
ward family.  The  next  really  old  house  is  on  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  street  just  above  the  junction  of  South 
Street.  On  the  site  of  it  in  the  early  days  of  the  settle- 
ment stood  a  small  house,  owned  —  as  was  the  farm  with 
which  it  was  connected  —  by  Abraham  Chamberlain. 
His  heirs  sold  the  farm,  excepting  the  house  and  ten  acres 
of  land,  to  Caleb  Crafts.*  The  remaining  land  and  the 
house  were  bought  by  Thaddeus  Jackson.  On  the  same 
spot,  after  taking  down  the  original  house,  Joshua  Wood- 
ward, an  uncle  of  Mrs.  Jackson,  built  the  house.  It  was 
occupied  by  him  for  some  time  and  he  died  there  during 
the  Revolutionary  War ;  Thaddeus  Jackson,  too,  resided 
there  till  his  death  in  1832,  at  a  great  age.  This  old  house 
stands  endwise  to  the  street,  and  has  a  long  sloping  roof 
in  the  rear. 

The  next  house  is  interesting  for  its  great  age  and  the 
old  families  connected  with  its  history.  This  is  the  old 
Crafts  house  on  the  Denny  place.  It  has  been  thoroughly 
repaired  and  painted,  and  now  looks  not  unlike  the  old 
houses  seen  on  country  roads,  that  were  formerly  kept  as 
taverns.  Its  great  age  would  not  be  suspected  by  a  cas- 
ual observer.  This  house  was  built  by  Vincent  Druce  in 

*  This  name  is  quite  as  frequently  spelt  Craft. 


THE  OLD  CRAFTS  HOUSE.  381 

the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  or  beginning  of 
the  eighteenth,  and  is  therefore  nearly  two  hundred  years 
old.  Obadiah  Druce,  son  of  John,  and  probably  a 
nephew  of  Vincent,  inherited  the  house  and  spent  his 
days  there.  John  Druce,  the  third  of  the  name,  was  a 
graduate  of  Harvard  College  in  1738  and  settled  as  a 
physician  in  Wrentham. 

An  interesting  item  is  preserved  respecting  the  first 
John  Druce.  It  seems  that  he  was  a  soldier  in  Captain 
Prentice's  company,  a  troop  of  horse,  in  King  Philip's 
War,  and  in  July,  1675,  was  mortally  wounded  in  the 
battle  near  Swanzey.  He  was  brought  home  and  died 
in  his  own  house ;  he  was  but  thirty-four  years  of  age. 
His  son  John,  who  was  but  a  child  then,  was  probably 
the  father  of  the  doctor  who  settled  in  Wrentham. 

Deacon  Ebenezer  Crafts  of  Roxbury,  next  purchased  the 
house.  This  family  in  all  its  branches  in  Roxbury  and 
Brookliiie  traces  its  pedigree  in  this  country  to  Griffin 
Crafts,  who  came  from  England  among  the  earliest  settlers 
in  this  vicinity.  His  son  Ebenezer  was  the  builder  of  the 
old  house  opposite  Hillside  on  "the  Roxbury  road"  or 
Tremont  Street,  which  bears  its  date,  1709,  on  the  chim- 
ney. In  this  house  the  Deacon  Ebenezer  Crafts  above 
mentioned,  lived  in  his  youth.  He  married  Susannah, 
daughter  of  Samuel  White,  Esq.,  of  Brookline.  The  de- 
scendants of  this  couple  have  been  and  still  are  promi- 
nent among  the  inhabitants  of  Brookline. 

Elizabeth  Crafts,  a  daughter  of  theirs,  born  in  1747, 
was  the  lady  long  known  as  "  Aunt  White,"  a  sketch  of 
whose  life  has  been  given.  There  is  an  old  letter  written 
by  her  in  her  youth  to  a  young  friend,  inviting  her  to 
come  and  visit  her  at  the  old  farm-house  on  Newton 
Street.  It  is  written  in  rhyme,  and  describes  the  domestic 
life  of  those  days  with  quaint  simplicity. 

Her  brother  Caleb,  a  few  years  older  than  herself,  held 


382  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

a  lieutenant's  commission  during  the  War  of  the  Revolu- 
tion. Many  of  the  old  military  orders  which  he  received 
are  extant.  Among  them  is  the  following  :  — 

NEEDHAM,  Jan.  31,  1778. 

Sir,  as  the  TransPorts  are  Soon  Expected  for  the  purpose  of 
Carring  Burgoynes'  army  to  Europ  —  lam  directed  to  detach 
from  my  regt  86  men  repair  to  Castle  Island  to  do  doty  there 
untill  the  troops  are  embarked  and  gone  out  of  the  harbor.  You 
are  directed  to  detach  from  your  Company  one  Corporal  and  five 
men  for  the  above  Purpose  and  see  that  they  are  armed  and 
accutred  according  to  Law  with  a  good  Blanket  and  two  days 
Provision  and  hold  themselves  ready  to  march  on' the  shortice 
nots  to  the  above  Postes,  Let  no  Time  be  lost. 

"your  humble  serv't 

"War.  MclNTOSH,   Col. 

"  P.  S.  The  fine  is  ten  pounds  if  they  refuse  to  march  or  Pro- 
cure some  able  Bodaid  man  in  his  roome  in  twenty-four  hours 
after  he  is  detached  as  aforesaid." 

The  old  pay-roll  of  a  company  of  twenty-five  Brookline 
men  who  served  under  Lieutenant  Crafts  at  Dorchester 
Heights  contains  the  names  of  Williams,  Weld,  Gore,  Wis- 
well,  Mann,  and  other  well-known  names  in  this  vicinity. 

All  the  men  wrote  their  own  names  but  one,  who  was 
obliged  to  make  his  "  mark." 

A  list  of  men  who  enlisted  as  "six  months'  men"  in 
the  service  for  special  duty  in  the  Northern  or  Canada  de- 
partment, contains  their  agreement  to  provide  themselves 
.with  u  a  good  effective  fire-arm,  and  if  possible  a  bayonet 
thereto,  a  Cartridge  box  and  blanket  or  in  lieu  of  a  Bay- 
onet a  Hatchet  or  Tomahawk." 

During  a  great  part  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  Lieuten- 
ant Craft  commanded  under  Captain  Thomas  White,  in 
the  Brookline  Company,  but  among  the  curious  old  docu- 
ments of  those  times  is  a  note  from  a  Captain  Mayo,  under 
date  of  Roxbury,  July  £th,  1778,  as  follows  :  — 


MILITARY   EXPERIENCE    OF   1782.  383 

"  Sur,  Mr.  Coller  is  cum  to  Do  Duty  in  room  of  his  Sun  for 
a  few  days  for  won  of  the  men  of  my  Company,  I  Expect  that 
you  will  have  another  man  to-morrow. 

"  To  Lieut.  Craft  in  Dortichter, 

"  THOMAS  MAYO,  Gapt." 

Under  date  of  1782,  July  9,  we  find  a  notice  from  the 
Selectmen  to  Lieutenant  Crafts  as  follows  :  — 

"  Sir,  The  within  is  the  fifth  class  in  said  town,  which  we  the 
subscribers  have  classed  in  order  to  procure  a  man  for  the  Conti- 
nental army  for  three  years  or  during  the  war  agreeable  to  a  re- 
solve of  the  General  Court  of  March  last  of  which  we  have 
appointed  you  the  head. 

B  WHITE  \ 

JOHN  GODDARD    v  Selectmen." 

W  CAMPBELL       ) 

"  N.  B.  You  are  obliged  to  Notifie  all  the  Inhabitants  of  your 
Class  to  meet  within  four  days  in  order  to  procure  a  man  or  you 
will  be  oblidged  to  answer  for  all  deficiencies." 

On  the  inside  are  the  following  names :  — 

Caleb  Crafts  57  £. 

Wm  Ilyslop  122    " 

Abr  Jackson  8    " 

Thad.  Jackson  45.  15 

Sol.  Child  49.  10 

Nath'l  Griggs  1.    5 

John  Harris  29.  15 

Isaac  Child  50. 

Mary  Boylston  24. 

Gulliver  Winchester  39. 

Isaac  Gardner  74.  10 

Several  names  of  non-residents  follow  variously  rated. 
Under  date  of   Brookline,  August   23d,  1782,  we  find 
the  following  action  taken  upon  the  above  order  :  — 


384  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

"  This  certifies  that  I  Samuel  Whipple  of  Hardwick  in  county 
of  "Worcester  and  State  of  Massachusetts  Bay  do  Engage  and 
oblige  myself  to  procure  two  Good  and  Lawful  able  bodied  men 
to  Inlist  and  Serve  as  Soldiers  for  the  Town  of  Brookline  in 
the  county  of  Suffolk  and  state  aforesaid  for  the  Term  of  three 
years  for  the  Consideration  of  sixty  pound  for  Each  man,  viz, 
for  Class  No  3  &  No  5  Whereof  Benjamin  White  and  Caleb  Craft 
are  heads.  Said  men  are  to  be  inlisted  and  mustered  at  or  be- 
fore the  thirteenth  day  of  September  next  and  in  falier  thereof  I 
Do  Promise  and  oblige  myself  to  pay  all  Damage  that  Shall 
arise  on  Sd  Classes  thereby  as  witness  my  hand, 

"  SAMUEL  WHIPPLE." 

Several  orders  issued  before  and  during  the  Revolution 
bear  the  autograph  of  Captain,  afterwards  General  Wil- 
liam Heath. 

We  turn  from  the  military  experience  of  the  old  Craft 
family  for  a  brief  glance  at  the  domestic  life  of  those  an- 
cient days,  for  nothing  seems  to  bring  the  past  so  com- 
pletely within  the  scope  of  our  apprehension  as  a  glimpse 
of  the  little  daily  vicissitudes  which  came  to  them  as  to 
us,  small  things  in  themselves,  and  yet  which  make  up  a 
large  part  of  life. 

Deacon  Crafts'  family,  like  other  well-to-do  people  of 
this  colony  in  those  times,  employed  slaves.  He  had 
bought  a  negro  girl  named  Flora,  for  the  sum  of  one  hun- 
dred and  five  pounds.  We  copy  the  following  letter,  now 
nearly  a  hundred  and  forty  years  old,  in  all  its  quaint 
simplicity.  It  was  written  by  Flora's  former  master  to 
Deacon  Craft. 

"  Sr,  I  am  sorey  you  did  not  Lett  me  see  you  yesterday.  I 
perseve  you  still  meet  with  troble  with  the  Negro  which  I  am 
Exceeding  sorey  to  hear  as  I  told  you  at  your  houes  I  intended 
you  no  harme  but  good.  I  did  bye  you  as  I  wold  be  done  by  & 
I  still  intend  to  do  by  you  as  I  wold  be  done  by  if  I  ware  in  your 


AN   UNCOMFORTABLE   SERVANT.  385 

Caess,  but  however  you  must  think  as  to  the  Sale  of  the  Negro 
it  is  —  by  means  of  selling  her  to  you  for  it  is  all  over  town 
that  your  discurege  and  wold  give  ten  pounds  to  have  me  take 
.her  agane.  I  apperehend  I  had  better  given  you  twenty  pounds 
than  ever  you  had  been  consarned  with  her  I  would  not  a 
thanked  anybody  to  have  given  rne  an  hundred  pounds  for  her 
that  morning  befor  you  carred  her  away  but  however  seeing  it 
is  as  it  is,  we  must  do  as  well  as  we  can  I  wold  have  you  con- 
sult with  the  Justes  and  Consider  my  case  allso  and  do  by  me 
allso  you  would  be  done  by.  if  I  had  your  money  as  the  Justeses 
bond  I  should  be  under  the  same  consarn  that  I  am  now  pray 
Lett  me  see  you  if  you  please  and  if  we  can  accommodate  the 
matter  to  both  our  Sattesfactun  I  shall  be  verey  free  in  the  mat- 
ter that  is  if  I  hear  no  Reflecsions  for  I  do  declare  I  was  sensere 
in  the  whole  mater. 

"  from  yours  to  Serve, 

"  EBENEZEU  DORR. 
"January  the  6   1735-6." 

An  uncomfortable  servant  for  whom  one  had  paid  over 
a  hundred  pounds  was  not  so  easy  to  get  rid  of  as  a  dis- 
orderly Bridget  from  the  intelligence  office  whose  place 
might  be  filled  in  three  hours  by  one  still  more  recently 
imported,  and  matters  getting  worse,  the  case  was  left 
out  to  referees  consisting  of  "  Messrs.  Edward  Ruggles  of 
Roxbury,  Thomas  Cotton  of  Brooklyne,  and  Mr.  Joseph 
Warren  of  Roxbury,"  who  were  to  ascertain  the  particu- 
lars of  the  case  and  decide  upon  the  best  settlement  of  it 
between  Mr.  Dorr  and  Mr.  Craft.  It  was  decided  by 
them  in  the  course  of  a  fortnight,  that  Mr.  Dorr  should 
take  "  the  said  Flora,"  back,  and  Mr.  Craft  should  give 
him  fifteen  pounds  in  bills  of  credit,  and  Mr.  Dorr  pledged 
himself  in  case  he  should  sell  the  girl  to  any  other  party 
for  over  ninety  pounds  that  "  the  overplus  of  the  sale  shall 
be  returned  to  said  Ebenezer  Craft,  and  the  said  fifteen 
pounds  to  Remain  to  me."  And  so  the  troubled  domestic 
waters  probably  ran  smooth  again. 


386  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

Edward  Ruggles  first  appears  in  Brookline  on  this  wise, 
in  the  town  records :  — 

"  Agreed  with  John  "Winchester,  Jr.,  for  his  man  Ed  Rug- 
gles, to  keep  school  at  the  new  school  house  two  months,  he 
beginning  Wednesday  January  23,  1711-12,  allowing  for  his 
services  £4  per  order  of  Selectmen." 

From  time  to  time  allusions  to  him  occur  in  old  papers. 
No  doubt  "  Ruggles  Street,"  indicates  the  vicinity  of 
the  place  where  this  old  Brookline  school-master  or  his 
children  settled,  or  at  least  owned  lands.  There  were 
Ruggleses  in  Roxbury,  however,  in  1632-37.  The  old 
Dinah  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  White  family 
was  a  slave  in  this  Craft  family  all  the  earlier  part  of  her 
life. 

Deacon  Craft  was  eighty-six  years  of  age  at  the  time  of 
his  death,  in  1791.  His  son  Samuel  received  from  his 
grandfather,  Samuel  White,  Esq.,  the  gift  of  a  farm  on 
what  is  now  South  Street  in  this  town,  and  has  ever 
since  been  known  as  the  Craft  place.  He  was  about  to 
marry  Ann,  daughter  of  Deacon  David  Weld,  and  in- 
tended to  occupy  this  place,  but  he  died  in  1775,  aged 
thirty-nine,  and  the  farm  came  into  his  father's  posses- 
sion. 

In  1791,  it  was  purchased  by  the  lieutenant,  Caleb, 
his  brother,  who  continued  to  live  in  the  Druce  house  on 
Newton  Street,  till  his  marriage  in  1812,  to  Jerusha, 
daughter  of  Benjamin  White,  who  had  married  Sarah, 
daughter  of  Captain  Samuel  Aspinwall.  From  this  mar- 
riage descended  the  present  Craft  family  in  South  Street. 
His  second  marriage  was  to  Sarah,  daughter  of  Robert 
Sharp.  From  this  marriage  descended  the  Craft  family 
on  Washington  Street.  Caleb  Craft  lived,  like  his  father, 
to  be  above  eighty  years  of  age.  He  died  in  1826,  in  the 
house  which  he  built  in  South  Street. 


EROSAMOND   DREW'S   SAW-MILL.  387 

His  son  Caleb,  also  a  grandson  of  the  same  name, 
lived  upon  the  farm  in  South  Street ;  the  Newton  Street 
house  was  sold  by  his  son  Samuel,  who  removed  to  the 
lower  part  of  the  town.  All  of  his  children  have  settled 
in  other  places,  and  there  are  no  young  people  growing 
up  in  the  town  to  keep  up  this  respected  old  family  name. 

"EROSAMOND   DKEW'S    SAW-MILL." 

On  the  western  side  of  Newton  Street  there  is  an  exten- 
sive tract  of  land  which  is  comparatively  an  unknown  re- 
gion. Once  heavily  timbered,  the  original  forest  was  cut 
away,  and  no  heavy  timber  has  since  been  allowed  to 
grow  there,  yet  it  is  an  unreclaimed  wild  covered  with 
birches,  alders,  red  maples,  and  many  trees  of  larger 
growth.  Bears  lingered  there  long  after  they  were  exter- 
minated elsewhere,  and  foxes,  musk-rats,  minks,  owls,  and 
other  wild  game  have  until  recently,  and  do  perhaps  still 
tempt  adventurous  sportsmen  to  tramp  through  these 
rocky  and  swampy  fastnesses. 

The  land  lying  hereabouts,  on  both  sides  of  the  street, 
both  in  Brookline  and  in  Newton  to  the  extent  of  several 
hundred  acres,  was  in  the  year  1650  conveyed  by  Nicholas 
Hodgden  of  Boston  and  Brookline,  to  Thomas  Hammond 
and  Vincent  Druce,  the  same  who  built  the  old  house 
before  described. 

Erosamon  Drew,  whose  name  is  spelled  in  six  different 
ways  in  old  documents,  came  from  Ireland  in  his  youth. 
He  married  Bethiah,  Vincent  Druce's  daughter.  The  elder 
Druce,  who  seems  to  have  been  a  wealthy  man  for  those 
times,  left  his  son-in-law  considerable  property. 

A  most  curious  and  elaborate  old  deed  dated  in  1683 
conveys  a  tract  of  sixty-four  acres  of  woodland  for  fifty- 
five  pounds  to  Erosamon  Drew  from  "  Vincent  Drusse  and 
Elizabeth  his  wife,"  in  which  an  imperfectly  scrawled  V 


388  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

for  his  name,  and  E  for  hers,  are  their  only  attempts  at 
penmanship. 

An  examination  of  the  new  map  of  the  town  will  show 
a  slight  curving  bit  of  road-way  near  Newton  line,  diverg- 
ing from  the  street  on  the  left,  and  joining  it  again  at 
Newton  line. 

The  passer-by  upon  the  street  would  scarcely  notice 
the  grassy  entrance  to  this  curve,  and  perhaps  fail  to  ob- 
serve, unless  attention  .were  called  to  it,  an  old  roof,  to 
be  seen  almost  on  a  level  with  the  street,  below  the  brow 
of  the  hill.  Yet  this  curved  bit  of  road  was  the  original 
street  or  old  road  dipping  down  into  the  valley,  for  what 
good  reason  nobody  now  living  knows,  unless  it  was 
because  down  here  was  "  Erosamond  Drew's  saw-mill," 
and  there  must  be  a  way  to  get  to  it. 

A  brook  which  is  the  natural  outlet  of  Hammond's 
Pond,  flows  through  the  swampy  lot  opposite  and  under 
the  road.  It  is  nearly  concealed  by  rank  bushes  and 
young  trees,  beyond  which  is  a  large  open  meadow,  which 
still  annually  yields  many  tons  of  hay.  This  extensive 
tract  is  the  property  of  numerous  owners,  and  is  desig- 
nated in  ancient  deeds  as  "  the  Grate  meddows,"  also 
"  Saw-mill  meadows,"  and  far  and  near  colloquially  as 
"  Ponica."  These  meadows  were  flowed  to  obtain 
water-power  enough  to  run  the  saw-mill,  on  leaving  which 
after  passing  under  the  old  road-way,  the  water  emptied 
into  another  tract  of  land  called  "  Bald  Pate  Meadows," 
there  forming  a  mill-pond  for  another  saw-mill  which  stood 
a  short  distance  below,  many  years  ago,  in  the  edge  of 
Newton.  Its  site  wa^  plainly  to  be  seen  a  few  years 
ago  (and  may  be  still),  though  it  long  since  yielded  to 
the  superior  advantages  of  its  Brookline  rival. 

Below  the  level  of  the  road  down  the  declivity  of  the 
hill,  and  standing  endwise  to  the  now  deserted  and  grassy 


EROSAMON  DREW.  389 

old  road-way,  is  a  low  house  (the  roof  of  which  was  above 
mentioned),  falling  into  ruins,  though  still  inhabited.*  It 
is  not  less  than  two  hundred  years  old,  and  perhaps  more. 
This  was  Erosamon  Drew's  house,  and  over  the  brook 
close  to  it  stood  his  saw-mill,  and  here  all  the  sawing  of 
boards  for  miles  around  was  accomplished.  The  owner  of 
the  saw-mill  was  evidently  a  thrifty  and  good  citizen,  as 
he  held  various  offices  of  trust  in  the  town,  being  one  of 
the  selectmen,  assessor,  a  member  of  the  grand  jury,  and 
one  of  the  committee  on  building  the  First  Church. 

There  were  three  sons  of  Erosamon  and  Bethiah  Drew 
who  died  young,  or  at  least  unmarried. 

Ann,  the  only  child  of  this  parentage  who  lived  to 
marry,  was  born  in  1683.  In  1710,  she  became  the  wife 
of  Samuel  White,  Esq.,  and  was  the  Madam  Ann  White 
of  whom  an  account  has  been  given. 

Ann  White,  a  daughter  of  this  marriage,  became  the 
wife  of  Henry  Sewall,  son  of  the  chief  justice  of  that 
name. 

One  of  her  sons  married  into  the  Sparhawk  family  of 
Cambridge ;  there  are  also  descendants  of  one  of  the 
daughters  still  living  bearing  the  names  of  Walcott,  and 
Ridgway  ;  from  one  of  the  sons  comes  a  branch  of  the  God- 
dard  family,  so  that  there  are  still  lineal  descendants  of 
Erosamon  Drew  in  existence,  in  several  names,  or  families, 
as  it  will  be  recollected  that  in  the  history  of  the  Craft 
family,  it  was  stated  that  Deacon  Ebenezer  Craft  married 
Susannah,  daughter  of  Samuel  and  Ann  White  (Drew). 

An  old  deed  of  Isaac  Hammond  in  1693  conveys  land 
bordering  on  the  saw-mill  lot,  to  Erosamon  Drew.  By 
another  deed  in  April,  1731,  Drew  conveyed  ten  acres  of 
his  land  to  his  son-in-law,  Samuel  White,  "  by  reason  and 

*  Since  the  above  was  written  we  learn  that  the  building  has  been  demol- 
ished. 


390  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

in  consideration  of  the  Love,  good-will  and  affection  which 
he  hath  and  doth  bear  toward  him,"  which  was  certainly 
a  very  substantial  proof  of  his  satisfaction  with  his  daugh- 
ter's marriage. 

This  deed  was  witnessed  by  James  Allen,  the  first  min- 
ister of  this  town,  and  "  hugh  scot,"  but  Erosamon  Drew's 
signature,  alas,  was  only  "  his  mark,"  a  round  scrawl,  for 
he  could  not  write  his  name. 

The  deed  was  acknowledged  before  "  Samuel  Sewall, 
J  Pacis,"  and  rounds  off  in  sonorous  Latin,  "  Annoq  Reg- 
nis  Regis  Georgius  Magna  Brittanica  quarto,"  etc. 

In  August  of  the  same  year  by  another  deed  he  gave  his 
house  and  all  his  movable  property  to  his  son-in-law, 
wife  and  two  children,  for  his  being  "  helpful  to  him  in 
his  old  age."  In  fact,  from  1711  to  this  last  date  he  seems 
to  have  been  at  short  intervals  bequeathing  all  his  worldly 
goods  to  this  beloved  son-in-law.  The  grave-stones  of  all 
the  Drews  are  still  to  be  seen  in  Newton  cemetery.  The 
last  of  the  Drews  was  gone  before  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  and  large  portions  had  been  sold  off  the  Druce  and 
Hammond  property,  and  that  part  of  Samuel  White's  land 
which  he  inherited  from  his  wife's  father. 

In  the  Revolutionary  times  this  great  tract,  which  still 
lies  wild,  was  in  the  hands  of  Tories,  who  it  is  said  secured 
some  of  King  George's  cannon  and  hid  them  in  the  thick 
woods,  intending  when  the  right  time  came  to  use  them 
for  the  royal  cause.  But  that  time  never  came,  and  the 
Tories  were  forced  to  escape  to  the  British  Provinces, 
where  they  stayed  till  their  property  was  confiscated.  It 
was  sold,  and  divided  among  many  owners,  and  so  remains. 
The  old  saw-mill  came  into  the  hands  of  Captain  Curtis  of 
Jamaica  Plain,  and  afterwards  of  Edward  Hall,  who  for- 
merly was  a  blacksmith  on  Washington  Street. 

For  many  years  Erosamon  Drew's  old  house  was  called 


"  HUCKLEBERRY   TAVERN."  391 

"the  huckleberry  tavern,"  because  the  tenant  then  occu- 
pying it  was  skillful  in  making  a  kind  of  wine  from  the 
abundant  huckleberries  of  the  surrounding  pastures,  and 
on  election  days  and  other  festive  occasions,  the  scattered 
residents  of  the  adjacent  parts  of  Brookline  and  Newton 
often  resorted  thither  for  the  mild  stimulants  of  society 
and  huckleberry  wine.  The  old  saw-mill  was  taken  down 
about  twenty-five  years  ago  ;  Time  with  the  slow  fingers 
of  decay  is  taking  down  the  old  house.  It  is  a  curious  old 
place,  the  roof  behind  sloping  almost  to  the  ground.  A 
part  of  the  old  flume  and  some  of  the  stone  underpinning 
of  the  saw-mill  are  still  to  be  seen. 

The  extensive  meadows  through  which  the  brook  flows, 
and  which  were  once  rich  with  cranberry  vines,  are  now 
all  bush-grown.  The  old  road  down  which  teams  drew 
heavy  logs  and  took  away  the  finished  boards,  is  so  nar- 
row, rough,  and  winding,  as  to  be  almost  unsafe.  At  the 
side  of  the  road  near  the  end  of  the  house  is  a  little  patch 
fenced  with  brush,  which  was  this  very  summer*  blooming 
and  gay  with  purple  amaranths  and  other  well-kept  flow- 
ers, which  lent  a  bit  of  brightness  to  the  lonesome  and 
otherwise  neglected  spot.  The  picturesque  old  place  is 
a  fit  one  for  the  location  of  the  scenes  of  a  poem  or  a 
novel. 

SOUTH   STREET. 

South  Street,  formerly  known  as  the  old  upper  road  to 
Dedham,  extends  from  Newton  Street  to  the  extreme 
southerly  corner  of  the  town,  where  it  enters  West  Rox- 
bury.  Several  years  ago  a  short  cut  was  opened  from 
Newton  Street  to  South  Street,  beginning  nearly  opposite 
the  old  school-house  on  Newton  Street,  and  ending  on 
South  Street  at  the  Craft  place,  materially  reducing  the 
distance  and  avoiding  a  hill,  in  the  journey  from  Brookline 

*  1872. 


392  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

to  Dedham.  This  short  street,  which  as  yet  has  scarcely 
a  house  upon  it,  is  known  as  Grove  Street.  The  old  way 
through  the  upper  end  of  South  Street  is  very  little  used, 
and  probably  few  of  the  modern  inhabitants  of  Brookline 
have  explored  it.  It  is  such  a  road  as  one  finds  in  moun- 
tain regions  or  backwoods,  narrow,  rough,  and  crooked, 
and  heavily  bordered  with  wild  bushes,  vines,  and  trees, 
nearly  concealing  the  low,  mossy  old  stone- wall  laid  up  by 
the  forefathers.  It  is  a  wild,  picturesque,  country  road, 
such  as  few  frequenters  of  the  City  Hall  would  believe  to 
be  in  existence  within  six  miles  of  that  renowned  locality. 
There  is  no  need  of  exploring  Berkshire  or  the  White 
Hills  for  retirement  or  country  scenes,  while  South  Street 
is  unvisited  by  county  commissioners  and  their  inevitable 
followers,  the  surveyors,  and  the  corps  who  reduce  the 
face  of  nature  with  the  axe,  the  pickaxe,  the  shovel,  and 
the  tip-cart. 

It  will  be  curious  to  observe,  when  once  a  railroad 
crosses  this  section  of  the  town,  with  what  rapid  strides 
the  changes  which  have  quietly  bided  their  time  for  two 
hundred  and  forty  years,  will  walk  through  South  Street. 

On  the  corner  of  Newton  and  South  Street,  stood  a 
century  ago  an  old  blacksmith's  shop,  the  property  of 
Abraham  Jackson,  who  was  farmer  and  blacksmith.  Be- 
ing right  on  the  way  to  the  saw-mill,  there  was  probably 
quite  a  business  in  his  time,  a  hundred  years  and  more 
ago,  and  till  since  railroads  have  been  built,  much  teaming 
from  Newton  and  travel  to  and  from  Dedham  passed  this 
corner.  In  1712  Abraham  Jackson  was  one  of  the  survey- 
ors of  the  highways.  The  old  house  which  stood  on 
South  Street,  on  the  same  spot  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Good- 
nough,  had  double  or  folding  doors  in  front,  and  persons 
who  can  recollect  it,  well  remember  how  battered  those 
heavy  oaken  doors  were  by  tomahawks  of  the  Indians,  in 


OLD   HOUSES   ON   SOUTH   STREET.  393 

a  desperate  attack  made  upon  it.  Thaddeus  Jackson,  Jr., 
who  was  his  grandson  and  lived  in  the  old  house,  often 
related  the  tales  of  those  stirring  old  times  which  he  heard 
from  his  grandfather,  in  whose  day  Indians  and  bears 
were  not  unfrequently  found  prowling  about  these  parts 
of  Brookline. 

A  few  rods  south  of  the  present  Crafts  house  stood  a 
house  once  owned  by  Samuel  White,  Esq.,  who  gave  it  to 
his  grandson  Samuel  Crafts  (as  mentioned  in  a  previous 
chapter),  which  was  once  occupied  by  "  Hugh  Scott," 
whose,  name  appears  frequently  on  old  documents,  but  of 
whom  we  can  ascertain  but  little.  The  old  Crafts  house 
near  the  corner  of  South  and  Grove  streets,  was  mentioned 
on  a  previous  page  as  having  been  built  within  the  pres- 
ent century,  by  Caleb  Crafts.  On  the  opposite  corner, 
around  the  modern  house  built  by  his  grandson,  grow 
many  beautiful  things  which  find  their  way  to  the  charm- 
ing exhibitions  in  Horticultural  Hall.  This  is  the  last 
house  in  the  town.  On  the  opposite  side,  a  little  further 
south,  on  land  which  is  now  included  in  the  Crafts  and 
Weld  places,  stood,  two  hundred  years  ago,  a  house  which 
was  the  dwelling  of  James  Griggs,  one  of  the  early  inhab- 
itants of  the  town,  the  same  who  was  appointed  to  "seat 
the  meeting-house,"  was  "  tithing-man,"  and  altogether, 
probably,  a  good  church-goer  of  the  old  orthodox  type  till 
he  became  a  "  New  Light "  in  Rev.  Mr.  Allen's  day,  and 
went  off  with  the  seceders  to  listen  to  Rev.  Mr.  Hyde's 
preaching  in  the  old  Winchester  house.  From  thence 
we  hear  little  of  him.  He  was  a  relative  of  the  families 
of  the  same  name  in  other  parts  of  the  town. 

Thomas  Kendrick  built  a  house  a  few  rods  south  of  the 
one  last  named,  which  would  now  be  considered  a  curiosity, 
its  site  being  but  a  few  rods  from  the  boundary  line  of  the. 
city  of  Boston.  It  was  one  story  high  only,  of  but  two 

26 


394  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

rooms.  It  was  lighted  by  little  windows  of  diamond- 
shaped  glass  in  leaden  sash,  which  swung  on  hinges,  like 
doors.  There  was  no  paint  within  or  without  and  the  best 
room  was  papered  with  old  newspapers,  not  being  even 
plastered.  The  only  ascent  to  "  the  loft "  was  through  a 
trap-door  by  a  well  worn  ladder,  and  in  a  similar  way 
access  was  had  to  the  cellar.  Thomas  Kendrick  married 
a  Griggs,  from  the  family  above  mentioned,  and  James 
Griggs'  son  George,  at  one  time  lived  here.  After  the 
death  of  Kendrick  his  widow  married  Jacob  Hervey  or 
Harvey. 

The  Kendrick  family,  not  now  represented  in  Brook- 
line,  will  be  remembered  by  many,  chiefly  by  an  old 
lady  who  died  about  twenty  or  more  years  ago,  after  a 
long  and  helpless  illness,  during  which  she  was  supported 
by  the  town,  yet  during  all  this  time  had  successfully  con- 
cealed several  hundreds  of  dollars,  which  of  course  reverted 
to  the  town  by  way  of  compensation,  after  her  death. 
This  person  was  the  wife  of  Thomas  Kendrick,  Jr.  Ja- 
cob Harvey,  his  step-father,  was  a  soldier  in  the  service  of 
the  town  in  Revolutionary  times.  An  old  document,  dated 
1781,  is  still  preserved,  in  which  eight  of  the  old  citizens 
of  the  town  "  promise  to  pay  Jacob  Harvey  on  conditions 
of  his  serving  as  a  soldier  in  the  Contenantal  army  for  the 
term  of  three  years  unless  sooner  regulerly  discharged 
.  .  .  the  sum  of  fifty  hard  dollers  and  three  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  50  of  the  oald  Contenantal  Dollers 
and  to  deliver  at  his  hous  in  said  town  Four  Cords  of  good 
Fire  wood."  This  was  to  be  repeated  each  year  or  frac- 
tion of  a  year  thereafter  that  he  remained  in  the  service. 
An  old  receipt  for  a  part  of  this  money  signed  by  his  wife 
"  Marey  Hervey  X  her  mark,"  is  also  extant.  Mr.  Her- 
vey died  in  1812  aged  68  years. 

Thomas  Kendrick,  Mrs.  Harvey's  son,  distinctly  remem- 


THE   KENDRICK   HOUSE.  395 

bered  seeing  men  at  the  time  of  the  Lexington  and  Concord 
battle  running  across  lots  in  this  neighborhood  guided  by 
the  sound  of  the  firing,  and  jumping  fences  in  their  eager- 
ness to  reach  the  scene  of  the  fray,  taking  their  course 
back  of  Walnut  Hills  and  through  Newton. 

The  old  house  became  so  dilapidated  that  Mrs.  Harvey 
for  the  last  ten  years  of  her  life  spent  her  winters  with  a 
married  daughter  in  Boston,  but  she  was  always  impa- 
tient for  Spring  to  come  that  she  might  return  to  her 
country  residence,  or  "  hut  "  as  she  called  it.  After  the 
old  lady  died,  in  1826,  the  house  was  taken  down.  The 
land  on  which  it  stood  is  a  part  of  the  Weld  place.  It  is 
a  rocky  and  beautifully  wild  country  place  thereabouts, 
on  one  side  of  the  street  almost  covered  with  forest  trees. 
There  are  no  other  buildings  in  the  town  on  South  Street, 
and  this  closes  the  description  of  the  town  in  this  direc- 
tion. 


396  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 


HIGH    STREET    CHURCH.  —  CHURCH    OF  OUR    SAVIOUR.  -  GOS- 
PEL   CHURCH.  —  LOCAL    INDUSTRIES. 


churches  of  Brookline,  which  have  been  estab- 
lished  within  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  ean 
hardly  be  reckoned  among  the  fitting  subjects  of  a  series 
of  sketches  belonging  almost  exclusively  to  the  past,  yet 
to  omit  a  part  of  them  simply  because  they  are  modern, 
might  seem  an  invidious  distinction.  There  are  other 
reasons  also,  why  a  sketch  of  the  High  Street  Church,  more 
generally  known  as  the  Swedenborgian,  may  be  presumed 
to  be  of  some  interest,  for  there  is  probably  no  religious 
society  in  the  community  of  which  so  little  is  known  by 
outsiders,  nor  of  which  such  mistaken  ideas  are  prevalent. 

A  few  members  of  the  Boston  Society  of  the  New 
Jerusalem,  in  Bowdoin  Street,  became  residents  of  Brook- 
line  twenty  or  more  years  ago.  There  was  then  no  pub- 
lic conveyance  on  Sundays,  and  these  few  worshippers, 
of  a  like  faith,  met  for  occasional  religious  services,  and 
a  little  Sunday-school,  in  private  parlors.  Sometimes 
an  omnibus  was  chartered,  and  these  persons  thus  re- 
sorted to  their  own  church  on  such  occasions  as  seemed 
desirable. 

In  1852,  worship  was  first  held  in  the  Town  Hall,  the 
numbers  increased,  and  in  April,  1857,  a  society  was 
formed.  The  first  minister  was  Rev.  T.  B.  Hayward. 
His  connection  with  the  church  continued  until  1861. 
He  was  succeeded  the  same  year  by  Rev.  Mr.  Ager.  In 


DOCTRINES   OF   THE  NEW   CHURCH.  397 

1862,  the  temple  in  High  Street  was  built.  Mr.  Ager 
continued  with  this  church  until  1864,  when  he  was 
called  to  the  pastorate  of  the  society  in  Brooklyn,  N.  Y., 
where  he  still  officiates.  He  was  succeeded  in  Brookline 
by  the  Rev.  S.  M.  Warren.  Mr.  Warren  being  called 
away  to  Europe  for  an  indefinite  period,  his  place  was 
temporarily  filled  by  Rev.  Abiel  Silver,  who  divided  his 
time  between  this  church  and  a  little  body  of  worshippers 
at  Boston  Highlands.  A  society  was  soon  formed  there 
which  outgrew  in  numbers  and  means,  the  little  church 
in^  Brookline,  and  soon  took  occasion  to  appropriate  the 
services  of  the  pastor  altogether  to  their  own  needs. 
Since  that  time  the  Brookline  society  has  been  without 
a  regular  minister,  except  as  various  clergymen  have  been 
hired  for  longer  or  shorter  periods.*  The  question  is  often 
asked,  "  What  do  the  Swedenborgians  believe  ?  "  We 
append  the  following  "  Doctrines  of  the  New  Church," 
from  the  Liturgy  or  Book  of  Worship,  page  69. 

1.  "  That  there  is   one   God ;    that  in    Him   is   a   Divine 
Trinity,  called  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit ;  that 
these  three  are  distinct,  and  at  the  same  time  united  in  Him,  as 
the  soul,  the  body,  and  the  operation  are  in  man ;  and  that  the 
one  God  is  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

2.  "  That  saving  faith  is  to  believe  in  Him  as  the  Redeemer, 
Regenerator,  and  Saviour  from  sin. 

3.  "  That  the   sacred   Scripture  is  Divine  Truth ;  that  it  is 
revealed  to  us  as  a  means  by  which  we  may  distinguish  between 
good  and  evil,  by  which  we  may  be  delivered  from  the  influence 
of  evil  spirits,  and  by  which  we  may  become  associated  with 
angels  and  conjoined  with  the  Lord. 

4.  "  That  we  must  abstain  from  doing  evil,  because  it  is  of 
the  devil  and  from  the  devil ;  and  that  we  must  do  good  because 
it  is  of  God  and  from  God. 

*  Rev.  Warren  Goddard,  Jr.,  of  Bridgewater,  was  installed  as  pastor  of  this 
church  in  April,  1874. 


398  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

5.  "  That  in  abstaining  from  evil  and  doing  good  we  are  to 
act  as  of  ourselves  ;  but  we  must  at  the  same  time  believe  and 
acknowledge  that  the  will,  the  understanding,  and  the  power  to 
do  so  are  of  the  Lord  alone." 

To  this  creed,  nothing  more  and  nothing  less,  is  re- 
quired the  assent  of  those  who  would  become  members 
of  the  New  Church. 

It  seems  almost  too  absurd  to  believe,  in  these  late 
days  of  intelligence  and  liberality,  that  any  person  can 
be  found  who  believes  that  New  Church  people  are  wor- 
shippers or  blind  devotees  of  Swedenborg,  yet  well  mean- 
ing and  religious  people  are  to  be  found  in  our  own 
community  who  do  believe  such  things,  and  also  the 
ridiculous  and  oft  repeated  calumny,  that  New  Church 
people  "  set  plates  for  departed  friends."  Any  one  who 
would  learn  even  a  little  of  the  theory  of  the  future  life 
as  held  by  this  sect,  would  find  that  it  is  not  believed  in 
the  New  Church  that  persons  in  the  body  are  seen  or 
heard  by  those  who  have  passed  into  the  spiritual  world, 
that  their  existence  is  purely  spiritual,  and  that  all  con- 
nection with  material  things  has  ceased.  No  person  has 
yet  been  found  who  ever  saw  a  person,  or  knew  a  person 
who  "  set  plates  for  departed  friends."  The  story  has 
been  traced  to  the  ignorance  of  a  servant  in  a  Philadel- 
phia family  years  ago,  and  never  could  have  gained  such 
general  credence  but  for  popular  prejudice  against  what 
was  new  and  untried.  For  modern  spiritualism,  the  New 
Church  has  neither  sympathy  nor  sanction.  On  the 
other  point,  worshipping  of  Swedenborg,  or  blind  faith 
in  a  fanatic,  whichever  it  may  be  called  or  supposed  to 
be,  perhaps  the  above  quotation  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
church  should  be  a  sufficient  answer. 

It  may  not  be  amiss,  however,  to  state  what  the  church 
knows  about  Swedenborg,  and  why  it  believes  him  at  all. 


SWEDENBORG.  399 

Emanuel  Swedenborg  was  born  in  Stockholm,  in  1688, 
of  excellent  parentage.  He  was  made  a  nobleman  in 
1719.  In  1722,  he  entered  upon  the  duties  of  "  Assessor 
Extraordinary  of  the  Board  of  Mines,"  to  which  he  was 
appointed  by  Charles  XII.  He  was  admitted  a  member 
of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences  at  Stockholm,  in 
1729.  He  published  many  learned  scientific  works  be- 
tween 1710  and  1734,  nearly  all  of  which  were  written 
in  Latin.  His  society  was  sought  by  the  most  learned 
men  of  Europe,  and  many  of  his  theories  and  positions 
on  various  scientific  topics,  which  were  not  accepted  by 
the  men  of  his  times,  have  been  found  by  modern  scien- 
tists to  be  true.  In  1740,  he  published  in  a  large  quarto 
volume  his  "  Economy  of  the  Animal  Kingdom."  In 
1745,  at  the  age  of  fifty-four,  Swedenborg  relinquished 
his  scientific  pursuits,  and  devoted  himself  to  studying 
theology  and  unfolding  the  great  truths  of  the  Bible. 
Swedenborg  never  preached,  wrought  miracles,  or  at- 
tempted the  founding  of  a  new  sect.  He  wrote  his 
elaborate  and  voluminous  works,  published  them  at  his 
own  expense,  and  placed  them  in  all  the  principal  libra- 
ries of  Europe.  His  works  are  nothing  more  than  a 
commentary  on  the  Bible ;  but  they  differ  from  those  of 
all  other  commentators  in  this,  that  while  others  have 
given  their  own  views  of  the  meaning  and  design  of  the 
different  parts  or  subjects  upon  which  they  treat,  Sweden- 
borg says  nothing  as  of  himself,  but  constantly  says  that 
it  was  given  him  by  the  Lord.  This  remarkable  state- 
ment would  be  enough  to  condemn  the  whole  thing,  were 
his  explanations  of  Scripture  arbitrary,  confused,  or  con- 
tradictory ;  but  they  are  instead,  clear  and  consistent,  and 
founded  on  a  plan  of  interpretation  which  is  a  science  in 
itself,  —  the  science  of  correspondence. 

There  is  evidence  in  the  old  heathen  writers  and  in 


400  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

Egyptian  and  other  hieroglyphics  that  the  knowledge  of 
such  a  science  once  existed.  It  inheres  in  the  nature  of 
things,  and  is  the  invention  of  neither  Swedenborg  nor 
any  other  man,  any  more  than  the  truths  of  mathematics 
are  man's  invention  ;  calling  it  fanciful  or  visionary  does 
not  make  it  so.  Swedenborg  was  never  insane,  he  lived 
an  honored,  useful,  and  quiet  life  and  died  a  peaceful 
death,  at  the  age  of  eighty-five.  He  is  venerated  as  a 
wise  and  good  man,  but  not  worshipped,  any  more  than 
the  old  churches  worship  St.  Paul,  St.  Augustine,  or 
Chrysostom.  It  is  not  deemed  necessary  to  any  man's 
salvation,  by  this  sect,  that  he  shall  accept  the  teachings 
of  Swedenborg  or  any  man  or  body  of  men.  Those  who 
can  receive  these  teachings  may  do  so  profitably,  —  for 
those  who  cannot,  enough  truths  of  the  Bible  lie  apparent 
to  the  simplest  consciousness  to  prove  of  saving  value  if 
followed.  Every  year  the  principal  doctrines  held  by  the 
New  Church  are  being  more  widely  disseminated,  and  are 
permeating  the  mass  of  worshipping  Christians  of  every 
sect.  They  are  preached  in  pulpits  of  every  denomination 
and  received  as  food  for  the  soul  by  many  who  would  reject 
them  as  poison  if  they  knew  the  source  from  whence  their 
preacher  had  gathered  his  materials,  and  to  whom  he  is 
indebted  for  the  consistency  of  his  theology. 

The  test  of  a  person's  religion  should  be  the  life  which 
it  causes  him  to  live.  There  are  inconsistent  professors 
in  all  churches,  but  we  think  if  tested  by  the  standard  of 
life,  the  main  doctrines  of  the  New  Church,  love  to  God 
and  good  will  to  man,  will  be  found  not  a  whit  behind 
those  held  by  other  churches,  in  making  people  fit  to  live, 
and  thus  fit  to  die. 


EPISCOPAL   CHURCH   AT   LONG  WOOD.  401 


CHURCH  OF   OUR  SAVIOUR,  LONGWOOD,  A   MEMORIAL 
CHURCH. 

The  visitor  at  Longwood,  approaching  from  Chapel 
Station,  would  at  once  be  struck  with  the  neatness  and 
good  taste  apparent  everywhere.  The  Church  of  Our 
Saviour,  tasteful  in  external  designs  and  surroundings,  is 
in  its  interior  appointments  and  decorations  a  model  of 
beauty,  exquisite  in  every  detail.  The  parish  was  organ- 
ized on  the  19th  of  February,  1868.  The  church  build- 
ing was  the  gift  of  Dr.  William  R.  Lawrence  and  Amos 
A.  Lawrence,  Esq.,  as  a  tribute  to  the  memory  of  their 
honored  father,  Amos  Lawrence,  and  is  an  appropriate 
and  beautiful  expression  of  filial  regard  for  a  beloved  and 
noble  man,  whose  character  deserves  to  be  held  in  perpet- 
ual remembrance. 

The  organ,  which  was  built  expressly  for  this  church, 
by  the  Messrs.  Hook,  was  the  gift  of  Mrs.  Amos  A.  Law- 
rence, in  memory  of  her  mother.  The  beautiful  baptismal 
font  was  presented  by  Mrs.  F.  W.  Lawrence,  also  as  a 
memorial  gift. 

The  architect  of  the  building  was  Mr.  Esty,  of  Fra- 
mingham.  Prominent  among  the  members  of  this  society 
in  its  organization,  besides  the  various  branches  of  the 
Lawrence  family,  were  Messrs.  Samuel  L.  Bush,  S.  H. 
Gregory,  the  late  Commodore  George  S.  Blake,  Mr.  Wil- 
liam C.  Hitchborn,  and  Dr.  Robert  S.  Amory. 

The  first  public  service  was  held  March  22,  1868,  at 
which  time  the  present  Rector,  Rev.  Elliott  D.  Tompkins, 
began  his  work.  The  church  edifice  was  consecrated  by 
the  late  lamented  Bishop  Eastburn,  on  the  29th  of  Sep- 
tember following. 

Although  it  is  not  quite  five  years  since  this  church 
was  organized,  there  are  eighty  or  more  communicants, 


402  HISTORICAL  SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

and  the  flourishing  Sabbath-school  numbers  over  ninety 
scholars.  A  sewing  circle  was  also  organized  and  com- 
menced its  useful  work  the  first  year  of  the  existence  of 
the  society. 

GOSPEL  CHUKCH. 

Gospel  Church,  sometimes  called  "  the  Sears  Church," 
with  its  massive  walls  and  square  tower,  a  substantial  and 
beautiful  building,  is  a  curious  anomaly  in  church  history, 
having  a  pastor  and  a  sexton,  but  no  church  or  congrega- 
tion. The  building  was  erected  by  the  late  David  Sears, 
before  there  was  any  other  church  in  Longwood,  at  his 
own  expense,  with  the  expectation  that  all  sects  would 
unite  in  common  worship  within  its  walls.  He  prepared 
a  Liturgy  or  Book  of  Worship  expressing  his  own  ideas 
on  religious  matters,  for  regular  use  in  the  church.  The 
well-meant  plan  was  a  failure,  and  the  building  stands  a 
memorial  of  the  good  intentions  and  fallacious  hopes  of 
the  wealthy  projector  whose  mortal  remains  slumber  be- 
neath it,  and  whose  design  failed,  only  because  it  is,  or 
seems  to  be,  a  moral  impossibility  for  human  beings  to  lay 
aside  their  sectarian  prejudices  and  together  worship  one 
God  in  whom  all  profess  to  believe.  Worship  was  main- 
tained for  a  time,  but  the  attendance  was  so  small  that  it 
was  finally  abandoned. 

This  completes  the  list  of  the  eight  Brookline  churches. 
Though  three  are  at  present  without  pastors,  all  except 
the  last  mentioned  seem  to  enjoy  a  fair  share  of  pros- 
perity, and  each  in  its  way  is  a  force  for  good  in  the  com- 
munity.* 

LOCAL  INDUSTRIES. 

It  is  customary  to  record,  in  the  history  of  a  town, 
some  account  of  its  various  industrial  interests,  but  Brook- 

*  Since  the  above  was  written  two  of  the  churches  have  obtained  pastors, 
and  the  Methodists  are  established  in  the  former  Congregational  church,  so  that 
there  are  now  nine  churches. 


LOCAL   INDUSTRIES.  403 

line  being  but  a  suburb  of  Boston  has  little  to  offer  in 
that  line,  though  one  of  the  richest  towns  in  the  State, 
for  its  size  and  population. 

From  its  settlement,  until  after  the  second  war  with 
England,  it  was  a  region  of  farms,  and  no  more  beauti- 
ful or  skillful  suburban  farming  was  to  be  found.  After 
the  period  above  mentioned,  a  number  of  Boston  gentle- 
men purchased  land,  and  made  for  themselves  delightful 
country  seats  here,  thus  adding  greatly  to  the  wealth  and 
attractions  of  the  town.  From  that  time  forward  there 
was  a  steady  increase  of  population  and  wealth,  and 
farm  after  farm  has  been  cut  up  into  house  lots,  until  only 
the  remoter  tracts  of  land  can  be  used  for  this  purpose, 
and  the  majority  of  the  inhabitants  are  business  men  of 
Boston. 

For  many  years  the  market  gardens  of  the  Wards, 
Davises,  Moses  Jones,  the  Stearnses,  Griggses,  Coolidges, 
Coreys,  Crafts,  Whites,  and  others,  furnished  the  earliest 
and  choicest  fruits  and  vegetables  for  Boston  market, 
and  the  elegant  green-houses  of  Messrs.  Perkins,  Cabot, 
Higginson,  Gardner,  Thayer,  and  others  were  the  finest 
in  the  vicinity  of  Boston ;  for  then  horticulture  was  not 
established  as  a  regular  occupation,  and  strangers  were 
admitted  by  courtesy  to  admire  their  beautiful  treasures. 

The  one  wharf  which  gives  Brookline  any  occupation 
on  its  river  front,  has  been  kept  for  many  years  by  E.  M. 
Abbott,  as  a  lumber  wharf.  Of  late  the  Messrs.  Cousens 
have  made  it  also  a  depot  for  the  storage  and  sale  of 
coal  and  wood,  its  area  having  been  increased.  The 
Boston  and  Albany  Railroad  Corporation  own  an  exten- 
sive tract  of  land  near  this  wharf,  where  a  perfect  net- 
work of  rails  cover  the  ground,  and  the  Grand  Junction 
Railway  diverges,  crossing  the  river  and  conveying  thou- 
sands of  tons  of  produce  for  export,  daily,  to  their  wharf 
at  East  Boston. 


404  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF  BROOKLINE. 

For  nearly  twenty  years  past,  until  quite  recently,  the 
manufacture  of  knit  woollen  goods  was  carried  on  by 
Joseph  Turner  &  Sons.  The  only  other  business,  not 
merely  local,  of  a  mechanical  kind,  is  the  manufacture  of 
philosophical  instruments,  by  the  Messrs.  Ritchie. 

In  1868,  E.  S.  Ritchie  &  Sons  removed  their  manu- 
factory of  philosophical  instruments  from  Boston  to  Pan- 
ter's  Building,  Brookline.  Their  establishment  has  been 
for  many  years  the  largest  manufactory  of  instruments 
and  apparatus  illustrative  of  physical  science,  particularly 
in  the  higher  grades,  for  colleges,  etc.,  in  the  country.  In 
later  years  the  principal  branch  of  their  works  has  been 
the  manufacture  of  marine  compasses,  particularly  of 
such  as  are  known  as  liquid  compasses,  invented  and 
patented  by  the  senior  member  of  the  firm,  and  which 
are  now  solely  used  by  the  Navy  of  the  United  States, 
and  very  largely  by  the  mercantile  marine  of  the  country. 
A  form  of  this  instrument,  specially  designed  for  the 
purpose,  was  used  on  the  monitors  during  the  late  war. 

The  Messrs.  Ritchie  have  lately  built  a  magnetic  ob- 
servatory on  Gorham  Avenue  ;  a  neat  octagon  building, 
designed  by  T.  P.  Chandler,  Jr.,  for  the  use  of  the 
Bureau  of  Navigation,  of  the  U.  S.  Navy.  It  is  built 
of  wood  and  copper,  no  iron  being  employed,  and  is  fur- 
nished by  the  Bureau,  with  the  most  delicate  instruments 
known  to  science,  for  the  adjustment  and  testing  of 
compasses.  All  such  instruments  used  by  our  Navy  are 
here  inspected  and  tested  by  the  Superintendent  of  Com- 
passes of  the  Navy. 

A  chair  shop,  which  employs  steam  power,  has  within 
a  year  been  established  on  the  north  side  of  Brighton 
Avenue ;  but  recent  legislation  seems  to  indicate  the 
speedy  annexation  of  this  part  of  Brookline  to  Boston. 

Several  florists  add  the  attractions  of  their  beautiful 
vocation  to  the  embellishment  of  Brookline,  of  whom 


RURAL   BEAUTY.  405 

Mr.  Richards,  of  Clyde  Street,  and  George  Craft,  Esq., 
of  South  Street,  have  acquired  an  extensive  reputation 
for  the  culture  of  the  gladiolus.  Miss  Tobey,  of  Linden 
Place,  has  also  a  lovely  green-house,  which  deserves  a 
liberal  patronage.  The  reports  of  the  various  horticul- 
tural exhibitions  in  Boston,  show  that  the  grapes  and 
pears  of  Brookline,  as  well  as  its  flowers,  are  annually 
conspicuous  among  the  choice  products  which  adorn  the 
tables  on  these  occasions. 

Those  who  have  known  and  loved  the  Brookline  of 
the  past,  cannot  but  regret  the  necessity  which,  in  some 
cases,  and  the  want  of  a  cultivated  taste  in  others,  dic- 
tates the  building  of  crowded  houses  so  close  together 
that  every  vestige  of  rural  beauty  is  sacrificed,  and  that 
the  chief  attractions,  which  have  for  years  made  our 
town  proverbial  for  its  charms,  are  rapidly  disappearing 
before  the  march  of  greedy  speculation.  The  central 
and  southwestern  portions  of  the  town  still  preserve  their 
old  time  reputation  for  beauty,  and  for  several  years  past 
the  elegant  green-houses  and  grounds  of  Ignatius  Sar- 
gent, Esq.,  have  been  a  centre  of  attraction  in  spring, 
when  through  the  generosity  of  the  proprietor  the  ad- 
mirers of  floral  beauty  have  been  freely  invited  to  wit- 
ness the  magnificent  displays  of  azaleas,  which  have 
made  the  place  famous. 


406 


HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

A  BRIEF  SUMMARY  OF  THE    MILITARY  HISTORY  OF   BROOKLINE. 

HHHE  part  which  was  borne  by  our  town  in  the  War  of 
-*-  the  Revolution,  has  been  incidentally  treated  of  in 
our  account  of  the  various  houses,  families,  and  old  forti- 
fications. 

The  second  war  with  Great  Britain,  so  unpopular  in 
New  England,  was  regarded  here  in  the  same  spirit  as 
elsewhere.  It  will  be  remembered  that  it  was  during 
this  war  that  our  townsman,  Col.  Thomas  Aspinwall, 
distinguished  himself  by  valiant  services,  and  lost  his 
arm. 

Brookline  was  called  upon  during  the  war  to  furnish 
militia  for  harbor  defense,  and  a  company  was  sent,  of 
which  the  old  muster-roll  reads  as  follows :  — 

"  Men's  names  who  were  detached  September  18,  1814,  by 
order  of  CoL  Joseph  Dudley,  for  the  defence  of  the  State. 

"  Lieut.  Robert   S.   Davis,  Ensign   Thomas    Griggs,   Sergt. 
Daniel  Pierce,  Fifer,  Thomas  Chubbuck. 


David  Smith, 
Joshua  Loring, 
James  Whidney, 
Charles  Leavitt, 
Win.  M.  Tenant, 
Samuel  Townsend, 
Amasa  Jackson, 
Joseph  Whitney, 
Eli  Hunten, 


Thomas  Farnsworth,    Charles  Stearns,  Jr. 

Joseph  Goddard,          James  Holden, 

Edward  Hall, 

Nathaniel  Talbot, 

John  Graves, 

Jonathan  S.  Ayres, 

William  Otis, 


Artemas  Fairbanks, 
William  Atwood, 
George  Morse, 
Samuel  Williams, 
John  Warren, 
David  Colby. 


John  Vose, 

George  Richardson, 
who  will  report  immediately  to   Fort  Independence  for  three 
months,  unless  sooner  discharged." 


MILITARY   HISTORY.  407 

Timothy  Corey,  afterwards  deacon  of  the  Baptist 
Church,  was  Captain  at  this  time.  He  was  succeeded  in 
the  office  by  Lieut.  R.  S.  Davis.  The  sojourn  at  the  Fort 
was  barren  of  incident,  except  the  occasional  firing  of  a 
shot  across  the  bows  of  some  foreign  vessel,  which  did  not 
obey  the  signal  to  heave  to,  and  report.  A  Spanish  ves- 
sel thus  arrested,  had  not  a  man  on  board  who  could 
speak  English,  neither  was  there  one  at  head-quarters  at 
the  Fort  who  could  speak  Spanish,  and  after  some  rather 
amusing  exhibitions  of  pantomime,  the  intruder  was 
allowed  to  proceed. 

The  Mexican  War,  hardly  more  popular  in  New  Eng- 
land than  the  War  of  1812,  drew  few  volunteers  from 
Brookline,  and  Colonel,  afterwards  Brigadier-general 
Mansfield,  participated  in  the  events  of  those  times,  and 
at  the  close  of  the  war  took  up  his  residence  in  Brookline 
for  several  years,  in  the  house  on  the  corner  of  Park 
and  Marion  streets,  now  occupied  by  Mr.  Mann.  He  fell, 
it  will  be  recollected,  at  Antietam,  during  the  Rebellion. 

During  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  Rebellion, 
public  sentiment  in  our  conservative  community,  had 
kept  pace  with  that  of  Boston  in  hostility  to  slavery,  and 
in  1856  the  town  was  almost  unanimous  for  the  election 
of  John  C.  Fremont,  as  President  of  the  United  States. 

BROOKLINE   IN   THE    WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION. 

The  guns  of  the  siege  of  Fort  Sumter,  reverberating 
through  the  length  and  breadth  of  the  land,  awakened 
responsive  echoes  in  Brookline.  Groups  of  pale-faced, 
resolute  men,  were  seen  along  the  streets,  in  earnest  con- 
versation, in  the  stores  and  post-office,  at  the  railroad 
station,  wherever  two  or  three  chanced  to  meet,  with 
defiance  in  eye  and  step.  The  national  colors  were  seen 
in  every  man's  button-hole,  and  every  school-boy's  jacket ; 


408  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

they  streamed  from  every  public  building  and  many  a 
private  roof,  as  if  dearer  and  more  honored  than  ever, 
they  might  thus  be  lifted  out  of  their  temporary  degra- 
dation, before  audacious  and  insolent  South  Carolina. 

President  Lincoln's  call  for  seventy-five  thousand  men 
was  flashed  by  telegraph  through  the  North,  and  Brook- 
line  responded.  Companies  were  forming  everywhere,  and 
the  nucleus  of  one  collected  by  Charles  L.  Chandler,  after- 
wards Lieutenant-colonel  of  the  Massachusetts  57th  Regi- 
ment, already  began  to  drill,  before  the  town  had  time 
to  summon  a  meeting,  and  take  action  in  the  matter  ;  the 
first  volunteer  being  William,  son  of  Samuel  Goddard  of 
this  town  —  since  deceased.  A  meeting  of  citizens  was 
held,  April  22,  and  a  military  committee  appointed  "  to 
take  charge  of  all  military  arrangements  which  shall  be 
made  by  the  town."  It  was  also  voted  "  to  raise  a  mili- 
tary fund  by  a  town  tax,  and  that  a  sum  not  less  than 
fifteen  thousand  dollars  be  appropriated  therefor  ;  and  to 
such  fund  shall  be  added  all  private  contributions  to  be 
expended  for  such  purposes  as  may  be  indicated  by  the 
donors."  The  Military  Committee  were  authorized  to 
draw  upon  this  fund  "  in  such  amounts,  and  at  such  times, 
and  for  such  purposes,  as  a  majority  of  said  committee 
shall  determine."  It  was  also  voted,  "  that  there  forth- 
with be  opened  a  list  of  all  male  inhabitants  of  Brook- 
line,  above  the  age  of  seventeen  years,  who  wish  to  be 
drilled  for  military  service  ;  and  that  the  Military  Com- 
mtttee  be  authorized  to  form  the  persons  signing  such 
lists  into  such  corps  as  they  may  deem  expedient  for  the 
public  good."  On  Monday  evening,  April  29,  1861,  a 
legal  town-meeting,  duly  notified,  was  held,  and  the  above 
votes  confirmed. 

One  of  the  first  acts  of  the  Military  Committee  was 
the  hiring  of  the  hall  in  Guild's  Block,  for  a  drill  hall 


BROOKLINE  IN  THE  WAR   OF  THE  REBELLION.          409 

and  armory,  and  Capt.  Edward  A.  Wild,  then  a  popular 
young  physician  in  town,  with  Lieutenants  Charles  L. 
Chandler  and  William  L.  Candler,  commenced  recruiting 
a  company. 

The  old  town  hall,  then  standing  on  the  site  of  the 
present  new  one  (only  nearer  Washington  Street,  which 
lias  since  been  widened  at  that  point),  had  a  piece  of 
open  ground  in  the  rear,  extending  to  the  Pierce  Primary 
school-house.  Here,  on  the  fine  days  of  that  memorable 
spring,  the  company  met  for  drill,  and  the  rudiments  of 
military  science  were  taught  the  young  heroes  outside 
the  school-house,  while  the  young  heroes  inside  took 
arithmetic  and  the  spelling-book,  to  the  beat  of  the  drum, 
and  listened  with  eager  avidity  to  the  history  of  their 
native  land,  as  they  saw  the  sunlight  flash  on  the  guns 
stacked  before  the  windows,  or  turning  in  varied  evolu 
tions  as  the  drill  proceeded.  The  fingers  of  the  children 
beat  an  unconscious  tattoo  upon  their  desks  as  they 
studied,  and  their  feet  marched  in  a  measured  tramp  as 
they  went  to  their  classes. 

The  blood  of  the  people  was  up,  and  nothing  but  the 
war  was  thought  of  or  discussed.  The  same  week  that 
the  drill  of  the  volunteers  began,  the  ladies  of  the  town 
organized  a  society  to  sew  for  them,  and  in  every  house, 
early  and  late,  the  needle  and  the  sewing-machine  were 
plied  with  vigor,  for  "  our  soldiers,"  that  were  to  be. 
The  best  of  inaterials  and  the  best  of  work  were  put 
into  the  articles  made,  and  though  after  experience  had 
taught  us  what  was  necessary  and  what  was  superfluous, 
and  the  ladies  had  learned  that  a  soldier  needs  no  larger 

o 

slippers,  or  ampler  garments  when  a  soldier  than  when  a 
private  citizen,  and  all  had  had  their  laugh  over  the  mis- 
takes of  early  enthusiasm,  there  was  left  the  conviction, 
that  at  least  this  purpose  was  served,  —  there  was  a  vent 

27 


410  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

thus  given  to  a  patriotic  fervor  of  feeling,  that  was  agon- 
izing unless  expressed  in  some  way,  and  the  hearts  of 
those  were  cheered  who  were  preparing  to  go  forth  to 
victory  or  death.  The  substantial  and  excellent  gar- 
ments that  were  made  were  far  better  than  those  supplied 
by  the  government,  and  a  thousand  little  wants  were 
foreseen  and  kept  provided  for  from  this  source  during 
the  whole  war. 

The  Brookline  Company  became  Company  A,  of  the 
1st  Mass.  Regiment,  and  soon  went  into  Camp  Cameron 
at  Cambridge.  Another  company,  recruited  principally 
by  Wilder  Dwight  (afterwards  Lieutenant-colonel)  of 
Brookline,  went  into  camp  at  West  Roxbury,  and  be- 
came a  part  of  the  2d  Mass.  Regiment. 

The  Military  Committee  appropriated  five  hundred 
dollars  for  use  of  the  men  in  Company  A ;  one  hundred 
and  twenty-five  dollars  each  to  Captain  Wild,  Lieu- 
tenants Chandler  and  Candler,  for  an  outfit ;  and  also 
furnished  the  officers  with  a  camp  chest.  The  ladies, 
who  had  already  been  busily  at  work  for  three  or  four 
weeks,  furnished  the  company  with  well-made  under- 
garments, the  cost  of  materials  for  which  had  been  sub- 
scribed by  various  citizens. 

In  the  month  of  May,  Jacob  Miller,  previously  a  ser- 
geant of  artillery  in  the  United  States  army,  was  engaged 
as  drill-master  and  armorer,  and  squads  of  vplunteers 
were  drilled  at  the  armory  daily  and  every  evening.  Two 
field  pieces  were  also  obtained,  and  artillery  drill  was 
practiced  by  those  who  preferred  that  branch  of  the  ser- 
vice. There  was  scarcely  an  hour  in  the  day  that  the 
drum-beat  was  not  heard  in  our  streets,  for  the  boys, 
burning  with  the  enthusiasm  of  the  times,  must  drill  as 
did  their  elders  ;  and  during  the  whole  of  1861-2,  the 
boys  of  the  public  schools  were  drilled  at  the  hall,  and 


BROOKLINE  IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION.          411 

in  the  streets.  A  fine  company  of  boys  was  formed, 
which  was  designated  the  "  Brookline  Rifles,"  chiefly 
from  the  High  School.  This  company  was  at  first  drilled 
by  Sergeant  Miller,  but  procured  its  uniforms  and  arms 
without  expense  to  the  town.  It  continued  during  the 
whole  war,  and  was  so  finely  drilled  as  to  elicit  high  en- 
comiums from  competent  judges,  on  several  occasions. 
It  was  invited  to  many  other  towns,  and  was  reviewed 
before  the  Governor  and  Legislature.  Fortunately,  the 
war  closed  before  the  age  of  the  young  soldiers  admitted 
of  their  entering  the  army.  By  an  enrollment  of  the 
town,  made  by  the  assessors,  in  August,  1861,  it  ap- 
peared that  there  were  in  the  town  but  six  hundred  and 
sixty-seven  males  between  the  ages  of  eighteen  and 
forty -five,  —  aliens,  and  persons  unfit  for  military  duty 
included,  —  and  it  was  apparent  that  should  the  war 
continue  two  or  three  years,  Brookline  would  be  obliged 
to  procure  soldiers,  by  bounty,  from  outside  her  territorial 
limits. 

In  February,  1862,  our  first  dead  soldier  was  brought 
home  for  burial,  not  fallen  in  battle,  but  accidentally  shot 
by  a  comrade.  This  was  Herbert  S.  Barlow.  The  funeral 
services  were  held  in  the  Harvard  Congregational  Church 
(now  the  Methodist),  and  the  crowded  house,  and  many 
a  tearful  eye,  bore  witness  of  the  public  feeling.  "  He 
was  the  only  son  of  his  mother,  and  she  a  widow." 

In  August  of  the  same  year,  occurred  the  second  dis- 
astrous battle  of  Bull  Run.  For  two  or  three  days  the 
public  mind  had  been  alternating  between  hope  and  fear, 
as  contradictory  telegrams  were  flashed  over  the  wires. 
On  Sunday  morning  came  a  dispatch  from  Washington, 
asking  for  contributions  of  hospital  stores,  and  surgeons 
from  Boston  and  vicinity.  Our  army  stores  and  hospital 
supplies  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy,  and  our 


412  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

wounded  were  suffering  for  every  needful  appliance. 
Even  surgeons  had  taken  off  their  own  shirts  to  strip 
into  bandages,  and  help  must  have  been  forthcoming 
abundantly  and  promptly,  or  the  results  would  have  been 
fatal.  Governor  Andrew  and  the  State  of  Massachusetts 
had  already  established  a  reputation  for  prompt,  decisive, 
patriotic  action,  and  the  President  knew  where  to  look 
for  aid.  The  dispatch  was  received  in  Boston  in  the 
night,  and  before  sunrise  on  Sunday  morning  Mr.  George 
B.  Blake  of  this  town  was  in  his  chaise,  on  his  way  to 
arouse  the  people.  He  first  called  on  Hon.  G.  Twichell, 
then  President  of  the  Boston  and  Worcester  Railroad, 
and  a  plan  was  organized  for  the  informing  of  the  officers 
of  the  various  churches,  in  order  that  the  regular  services 
of  the  day  might  give  place  to  the  good  Samaritan's 
work. 

Mr.  Blake  rode  till  noon,  not  even  delaying  for  break- 
fast, and  thoroughly  posted  the  people  of  Brookline, 
Brighton,  and  Roxbury,  while  Mayor  Wightman  and  the 
police  of  Boston  were  active  in  their  department.  Mr. 
Twichell,  in  the  mean  time,  was  telegraphing  to  all  the 
principal  cities  on  the  way,  for  engines  to  be  in  readiness, 
and  carriages  to  convey  the  surgeons  and  others  across 
New  York  city,  and  freight  cars  were  provided  by  his 
orders  to  receive  the  goods,  in  Boston  and  in  Brookline. 
The  Sunday-schools  had  assembled  at  the  various  places 
of  worship,  when  the  news  communicated  by  Messrs. 
Blake  and  Twichell  to  several  other  gentlemen  was 
received  at  the  various  churches.  Before  the  second 
bells  began  to  ring,  several  webs  of  cotton  cloth  were  on 
their  way  from  the  dry-goods  stores  to  the  churches. 
The  congregations  assembled  in  the  pews,  the  news  of 
the  morning  was  announced,  solemn  prayer  was  offered, 
and  the  people  were  dismissed  to  the  great  duty  of  the 


BROOKLINE   IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION.         413 

hour.  It  was  the  writer's  privilege  to  share  in  the  labors 
of  the  Baptist  Society  on  that  memorable  Sunday.  The 
congregation  partly  assembled  in  the  chapel,  and  a  part 
went  to  their  homes  for  materials.  Without  any  attempt 
at  organization,  or  any  appointed  head,  everything  moved 
as  by  clock-work,  from  the  very  outset.  There  was  no 
rush,  nor  hurry,  nor  confusion  ;  but  there  was  something 
for  every  man,  woman,  and  child  to  do,  for  the  older 
Sunday-school  children  remained,  and  many  were  the 
errands  on  which  they  were  sent  to  the  various  houses  of 
those  who  were  doing  work  which  required  their  pres- 
ence, and  the  quiet  and  solemn  dignity  with  which  the 
merriest  hearted  boys  entered  into  the  work  of  the  day, 
showed  them  worthy  of  their  country.  In  less  than  an 
hour,  new  cloth  which  had  been  cut  off  the  web,  in 
various  lengths,  carried  home,  shrunk,  dried  and  pressed, 
was  brought  back  into  the  chapel  to  be  stripped  into 
bandages.  These  were  tightly  rolled,  fastened,  and  the 
number  of  yards  marked  on  the  outside  of  each  roll. 

In  the  mean  time,  various  delegations  which  had  been 
sent  out  for  boxes,  came  in  with  shoe-boxes,  dry-goods 
boxes,  empty  barrels  and  firkins,  from  all  quarters  ;  others 
returned  laden  with  shirts,  stockings,  dressing-gowns, 
bed  linen,  slippers,  and  blankets,  and  from  every  quarter 
every  delicacy  which  sick  men  could  use,  and  even  costly 
luxuries,  unfit  for  sickness,  were  poured  in.  Choice  old 
wines  and  fine  new  linen  were  freely  given.  Nothing 
was  withheld  that  could  be  of  use,  from  the  set  of  a  dozen 
new  fine  shirts,  just  completed  by  one  housekeeper  for 
her  husband's  home  needs,  to  the  stock  of  jellies  and  pre- 
serves laid  up  for  the  next  winter's  use.  All  were  alike 
freely  given,  and  the  only  regret  seemed  to  be  that  there 
was  not  more  to  give,  and  those  who  could  not  contribute 
goods,  freely  gave  money.  Busy  little  fingers  were 


414  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

scraping  lint,  and  aged  hands  lent  their  tremulous  ser- 
vice in  many  a  useful  way.  Similar  scenes  were  being 
enacted  in  the  other  churches,  and  few  thought  of  going 
home  to  dine  or  rest.  There  was  steady,  calm,  systematic 
work,  and  the  amount  accomplished  seems  incredible  as 
we  look  back  upon  it.  By  four  o'clock  the  goods  were 
on  the  way  to  the  depot,  where  two  freight  cars,  which 
had  been  provided  by  Mr.  Twichell,  stood  waiting.  In 
these  cars  were  closely  packed  twenty  tons  of  goods  from 
this  town.  In  Boston  eight  other  cars  received  the  con- 
tributions of  the  city  and  surrounding  towns,  and  the 
train  consisted  of  ten  cars,  containing  a  hundred  tons  of 
supplies.  Everything  was  assorted,  carefully  packed,  and 
every  box  or  package  marked.  Mr.  Twichell  volunteered 
to  go  on  with  the  goods  to  Washington,  and  see  them 
safely  delivered,  and  he  was  accompanied  by  Dr.  T. 
E.  Francis  and  others,  who  went  to  make  themselves 
useful  as  physicians,  surgeons,  or  nurses.  Twenty-one 
surgeons  gave  their  services  on  this  occasion,  and  the 
Mayor  of  Boston  with  a  body  of  police  accompanied 
them.  Through  some  inadvertence  the  dispatch  ordering 
the  carriages  in  New  York  had  not  been  received,  and  on 
the  arrival  of  the  train  it  appeared  as  if  an  inevitable 
delay  must  occur,  which  would  prevent  the  party  from 
reaching  the  Washington  train  in  time.  To  Mr.  Twichell 
belongs  the  credit  of  securing  by  his  unflagging  energy 
and  enterprise  the  transfer  of  the  forty  persons  who 
accompanied  him,  from  the  depot  of  the  New  Haven 
Railroad  in  New  York,  to  the  Jersey  Ferry,  in  less  than 
half  an  hour  ;  and  by  the  cooperation  of  Mr.  Barker,  the 
agent  of  the  connected  line  of  cars  and  boats  beyond 
New  York,  the  train  was  detained  long  enough  to  admit 
of  the  arrival  of  the  party.  The  physicians,  nurses,  and 
those  in  charge  of  supplies  were  thus  enabled  to  reach 


BROOKLINE  IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION.          415 

Washington  a  few  hours  in  advance  of  the  goods,  and 
perfected  their  arrangements  there  with  the  President, 
the  Surgeon-general,  and  the  Sanitary  Commission,  so 
that  the  goods  which  left  Brookline  at  four  o'clock  on 
Sunday  afternoon,  and  Boston  soon  after,  were  being 
distributed  and  applied  to  the  wounded  and  suffering 
before  seven  the  next  Tuesday  morning. 

To  Colonel  Adams  of  the  "  Adams  Express  "  is  due 
the  honor  of  having  generously  and  promptly  forwarded 
the  hundred  tons  of  goods  the  whole  distance  free  of 
charge,  and  this  included  the  unloading  of  the  entire  ten 
carloads  in  New  York,  the  transportation  on  wagons 
through  the  city,  and  the  re-loading  again  in  cars  at  the 
Jersey  Ferry. 

Mr.  Twichell  returned  after  a  few  days'  absence,  and 
such  was  the  intense  interest  to  know  from  an  eye-wit- 
ness something  of  the  condition  of  our  wounded,  and  the 
true  state  of  things  at  the  Capitol,  that  a  public  meeting 
was  called  in  the  Baptist  Church,  which  was  then  the 
largest  public  building  in  town,  and  the  audience  which 
filled  the  church  to  overflowing  was  addressed  by  Mr. 
Twichell,  who  gave  most  interesting  information,  in  a 
clear  and  satisfactory  manner.  President  Lincoln  wrote 
with  his  own  hand  a  letter  of  cordial  thanks  to  the 
people,  which  was  read  by  Mr.  Twichell ;  but  the  good 
President,  fearing  he  had  not  expressed  himself  with 
sufficient  warmth,  after  giving  the  letter,  added  more  and 
stronger  expressions  of  grateful  appreciation  which  he 
enjoined  upon  Mr.  Twichell  to  repeat.  Mrs.  Lincoln,  to 
her  credit  be  it  said,  took  her  own  carriage  and  accom- 
panied Mr.  Twichell  and  a  gentleman  from  Boston  to  all 
the  hospitals  in  Washington,  that  they  might  ascertain 
just  what  supplies  were  needed  in  each  department. 

The  contributions  did  not  stop  with  this  occasion,  but 


416  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

a  steady  and  munificent  stream  of  benevolence  was  con- 
stantly flowing  towards  our  armies  from  this  town,  as 
well  as  from  the  whole  vicinity,  and  the  Sanitary  Com- 
mission never  called  upon  Brookline  in  vain. 

Miss  Helen  M.  Griggs,  daughter  of  the  late  David  R. 
Griggs,  of  Harrison  Place,  early  in  the  war,  left  the  com- 
forts of  a  beautiful  home,  and  gave  her  services  as  a 
nurse  in  Armory  Square  Hospital,  Washington,  as  long 
as  the  war  lasted,  except  a  short  respite  which  her  failing 
health  demanded.  When  the  war  closed,  she  took  up 
her  residence  in  Richmond,  as  a  teacher  of  the  freedinen, 
until  obliged  to  relinquish  her  labors  on  account  of  im- 
paired health. 

In  July,  1862,  President  Lincoln  called  for  300,000 
men  to  form  new  regiments,  and  recruit  the  old  ones. 

On  the  12th  July,  a  meeting  was  called  by  the  Select- 
men to  consider  the  course  to  be  adopted  by  this  town  in 
procuring  enlistments.  At  this  meeting,  and  at  a  legal 
town-meeting,  held  July  19th,  it  was  voted  "  to  appro- 
priate the  sum  of  twelve  thousand  dollars  for  the  purpose 
of  paying  bounties  to  volunteers,  and  for  the  relief  of 
families  of  volunteers." 

On  the  4th  of  August,  the  President  issued  a  proc- 
lamation, stating  that  a  draft  for  300,000  men  would  be 
made  on  and  after  August  15,  and  that  the  deficiency  on 
the  call  for  volunteers  which  might  then  exist,  must  be 
drafted. 

In  answer  to  a  call  of  many  citizens,  a  town-meeting 
was  held  on  the  9th  of  August,  and  the  result  was  a 
vote  "  That  the  Military  Committee  be  instructed  to  fill 
up  the  quota  of  the  town  as  soon  as  possible,  and  to  offer 
two  hundred  dollars  bounty  for  each  recruit."  The 
armory  was  kept  open  day  and  night,  and  many  men 
enlisted,  some  even  before  the  town-meeting  adjourned. 


BROOKLINE   IN  THE   WAR   OF  THE  REBELLION.          417 

Many  citizens  rendered  cheerful  service  in  assisting  the 
Military  Committee,  without  compensation.  The  Presi- 
dent's call  was  for  nine  months'  men  only,  but  the  town 
enlisted  none  but  three  years'  men  at  this  time.  The 
expenditures  of  the  town  during  the  year  ending  Feb- 
ruary 1,  1863,  for  military  matters,  was  $49,653.24.  In 
all,  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine  men  were  enlisted 
during  that  year,  and  the  Selectmen  passed  a  vote  of 
thanks  to  all  volunteers,  which  was  duly  printed.  The 
Board  of  Selectmen  for  1861  and  1862,  consisted  of  Messrs. 
James  Bartlett,  Marshall  Stearns,  Thomas  Parsons,  Ed- 
ward R.  Seccomb,  and  N.  G.  Chapin.  The  Military  Com- 
mittee comprised  the  first  three  above  named,  and  Messrs. 
William  K.  Melcher,  N.  Lyford,  William  Aspinwall, 
James  A.  Dupee,  James  Murray  Howe,  M.  B.  Williams, 
M.  Stearns,  T.  B.  Hall,  and  E.  A.  Wild.  Several  Brook- 
line  men,  after  drilling  in  artillery  practice,  under  Ser- 
geant Miller,  joined  the  10th  Mass.  Battery,  and  did 
heroic  service  in  the  field  during  the  rest  of  the  war. 
This  battery  went  into  service  in  September,  1862. 

On  the  27th  of  September,  1862,  the  Military  Commit- 
tee received  a  letter  from  Colonel  Thomas  Aspinwall  (ex- 
consul  to  London),  inclosing  the  sum  of  three  hundred 
and  eighty  dollars,  twenty-nine  cents,  being  two  thirds 
of  the  proceeds  of  a  lot  of  land  belonging  to  Colonel 
Aspinwall,  "  sold  by  auction  for  benefit  of  our  soldiers 
engaged  in  the  suppression  of  the  present  rebellion." 

The  following  year,  1864,  the  same  board  of  Selectmen 
served,  with  the  exception  of  William  J.  Griggs,  who  served 
in  place  of  E.  R.  Seccomb.  On  the  17th  of  October  another 
call  came  for  another  three  hundred  thousand  men,  and 
Brookline's  quota  was  seventy-two  men.  The  recruiting 
office  was  again  opened  in  Guild's  building,  and  seventy- 
five  men  enlisted.  It  was  hoped  that  this  was  to  be  the 


418  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

last  call,  but  the  office  had  been  closed  but  a  few  days 
when  the  summons  came  for  more,  and  Brookline's  quota 
was  forty-eight ;  making  in  all,  one  hundred  and  twenty 
men.  The  work  of  the  Sanitary  Commission  was  drawing 
upon  all  the  resources  the  ladies  could  command,  and 
many  soldiers'  families  were  largely  assisted  by  funds  ap- 
propriated to  this  use  by  the  Military  Committee. 

The  spring  of  1865  witnessed  the  downfall  of  Richmond, 
and  the  Rebellion  was  over. 

In  Brookline,  as  everywhere  else,  there  was  an  out- 
burst of  jubilant  feeling.  The  church  bells  rang  a  merry 
peal,  and  every  house  was  gay  with  flags.  A  meeting  for 
joyful  congratulation  was  held  in  the  Town  Hall,  which 
was  crowded  to  its  utmost  capacity,  with  all  classes  and 
conditions  of  people.  It  was  a  memorable  occasion,  and 
the  enthusiastic  speeches,  the  cordial  handshaking,  the 
tears,  smiles,  laughter,  and  general  joyousness,  were  but 
a  fitting  expression  of  the  public  feeling.  It  was  beyond 
words.  A  few  days  later,  and  the  national  joy  was  turned 
into  mourning,  for  a  pall  had  fallen  upon  every  house  and 
heart.  The  tragical  death  of  the  beloved  President  Lin- 
coln was  nowhere  more  sincerely  mourned  than  in  our  own 
community,  as  all  will  bear  witness  who  remember  that 
dark  episode  in  our  national  history. 

To  many  a  household,  too,  here  as  elsewhere,  the  tri- 
umphant ending  of  the  war  was  overshadowed  with  pri- 
vate sorrows,  for  their  brave  beloved  ones  who  came  not 
back  to  join  in  the  gladness  of  victory,  and  mingle  their 
tears  with  the  general  mourning  for  the  martyr  President. 
They  had  fallen  in  camp  and  field,  on  sea,  and  in  south- 
ern prisons  ;  — 

"  On  fame's  eternal  camping  ground 

Their  silent  tents  are  spread, 
And  glory  guards  with  solemn  round 
The  bivouac  of  the  dead." 


BROOKLINE  IN   THE  WAR   OF   THE  REBELLION.          419 

The  Selectmen,  in  closing  their  war  report  for  the  last 
year  of  the  war,  made  use  of  the  following  language  :  — 

"  We  cannot  close  this  article  without  referring  with  deep  re- 
gret to  the  many  brave  men  from  this  town,  who  have  fallen  in 
this  fearful  struggle  for  our  nation's  existence  ;  gladly  would  we 
speak  of  them  as  they  deserve,  if  it  were  in  our  power ;  but  it 
is  not.  Their  names  should  be  inscribed  high  on  the  roll  of 
fame,  and  held  in  grateful  remembrance  by  all  future  generations. 
We  can  only  say  to  their  bereaved  friends,  that  they  have  our 
heartfelt  sympathy  in  this  their  sorrow  ;  and  we,  in  behalf  of  the 
town  and  their  fellow-citizens,  gratefully  tender  our  thanks  to 
those  who  have  returned  to  us,  who  have  survived  the  fearful 
ordeal  through  which  they  have  passed,  in  disclwge  of  their 
duty  to  our  common  country ;  and  to  all  who  are  now  at  the 
front  engaged  in  defense  of  law  and  good  government. 
[Signed.]  JAMES  BARTLETT, 

MARSHALL  STEARNS, 
THOMAS  PARSONS, 
WILLIAM  J.  GRIGGS, 
EDWARD  S.  PHILBRICK." 

From  the  breaking  out  of  the  Rebellion  to  its  close  the 
town  of  Brookline  furnished  the  United  States  govern- 
ment with  eight  hundred  and  eighty  officers  and  men,  in 
all  departments  of  the  service.*  Many  of  these  were  non- 
residents, but  a  large  number  were  not  only  residents  but 
Brookline  boys,  brought  up  in  our  homes  and  schools,  and 
who  volunteered  before  bounties  were  offered,  because 
they  were  able  and  willing  to  do  their  duty  by  their  coun- 
try, and  not  only  willing,  but  would'  have  scorned  not  to 
do  it.  Many  young  men,  natives  of  Brookline,  were  resi- 
dents in  other  towns  and  cities.  Some  of  them  returned  to 

*  Report  of  Selectmen.  Adjutant-general  Schouler's  report  says,  "  Brook- 
line  furnished  seven  hundred  and  twenty  men  for  the  war,  which  was  a  surplus 
of  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  over  and  above  all  demands.  Thirty -four  were 
commissioned  officers." 


420  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF    BROOKLINE. 

enlist  in  the  roll  of  their  native  town,  while  many  enlisted 
in  the  places  where  they  were  living,  and  their  names 
honored  many  a  regiment,  from  Boston  to  Chicago,  and 
San  Francisco. 

We  had  seen  our  regiments  and  batteries  go,  taking 
their  bright  banners  from  the  hands  of  our  great  "  war- 
governor,"  with  full  ranks,  new  uniforms,  and  shining 
equipments.  We  saw  them  return,  a  broken  remnant, 
stained  with  the  soil  of  dusty  marches,  bearing  the  tat- 
tered remnants  of  the  flags  they  had  borne  through  many 
battles,  but  they  came  to  a  cordial  and  glorious  welcome, 
whether  they  came  singly  or  in  the  ranks.  Company  A, 
of  the  Massachusetts  1st  Regiment,  which  was  largely 
composed  of  Brookline  volunteers,  was  so  depleted  by 
sickness,  death,  and  transfer,  that  at  the  close  of  the  war 
there  was  but  little  of  the  original  element  left.  Its 
captain  had  risen  to  the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  one  of 
its  lieutenants  was  wounded,  the  other  lay  among  the 
unknown  dead  in  front  of  Richmond,  and  several  privates, 
or  non-commissioned  officers  were  raised  to  the  rank  of 
officers  in  other  regiments.  The  10th  Massachusetts  Bat- 
tery had  many  Brookline  men  in  it,  and  on  their  return 
the  town  gave  the  Battery  a  generous  reception. 

We  copy  the  following  account  of  the  reception,  from 
the  "  Boston  Evening  Transcript,"  June  15,  1865 :  — 

"  The  10th  Mass.  Battery,  Capt.  J.  W.  Adams,  was  received 
at  Brookline  yesterday.  The  battery  came  up  from  Gallop's 
Island  at  noon,  and  took  the  half-past  one  train  for  Brookline. 
On  arriving  at  Chapel  Station  the  veterans  left  the  cars  and  a 
procession  was  formed  in  the  following  order :  Brookline  Drum 
Corps,  Brookline  Rifles,  a  company  of  lads,  Capt.  A.  L.  Lin- 
coln ;  10th  Mass.  Battery,  Capt.  J.  W.  Adams,  with  113  men ; 
Brookline  Brass  Band  ;  Engine  Co.  No.  1,  H.  M.  Hall,  fore- 
man ;  "  Good  Intent "  Hose  Co.,  G.  H.  Stone,  foreman ;  Pierce 


BROOKLINE  IN   THE   WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION.          421 

Division  Sons  of  Temperance,  C.  H.  Stearns,  W.  P. ;  returned 
soldiers  ;  town  authorities  and  citizens  generally. 

"  The  colors  of  the  Battery,  inscribed  with  the  names  of  the 
battles  in  which  it  had  been  engaged,  were  carried  in  the  front 
rank.  Moses  B.  Williams,  Esq.,  was  Chief  Marshal,  and  under 
his  lead  the  procession  marched  through  the  streets  of  the  beau- 
tiful town.  At  various  points  along  the  route  the  veterans 
were  showered  with  beautiful  bouquets.  The  procession  pro- 
ceeded to  the  rear  of  the  Town  Hall,  where  a  bountiful  colla- 
tion was  spread  in  Yale's  mammoth  tent.  Plates  were  laid  for 
upwards  of  four  hundred,  and  the  collation,  furnished  by  Mr. 
Aaron  Whitney,  was  excellent  in  quality,  and  abundant  in 
quantity. 

"  After  the  company  had  been  seated,  prayer  was  offered  by 
Rev.  Dr.  Lamson,  and  the  edibles  were  then  discussed  for  half 
an  hour.  The  company  were  then  called  to  order,  and  James 
Murray  Howe,  Esq.,  welcomed  the  guests  in  eloquent  and  fitting 
terms,  to  which  Captain  Adams  appropriately  responded.  Other 
speeches  were  made  by  John  W.  Candler,  Rev.  Dr.  Hedge, 
Ginery  Twichell,  Esq.,  and  Messrs.  Atkinson  and  Dana,  of 
Brookline,  and  artificer  W.  Y.  Gross  of  the  Battery." 

The  whole  affair  was  a  success,  and  the  veterans  were 
enthusiastic  in  their  expressions  of  pleasure. 

The  2d  Mass.  Regiment  had  been  largely  recruited 
by  Brookline  men,  and  upwards  of  thirty  thousand  dol- 
lars were  raised  by  private  subscription,  towards  organ- 
izing this  regiment ;  but  no  public  demonstration  was 
made  on  the  return  of  its  shattered  remnant.  The  whole 
amount  of  money  appropriated  and  expended  by  the 
town  on  account  of  the  war,  exclusive  of  State  aid  paid 
to  soldiers'  families,  was  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
thousand  two  hundred  and  twenty-four  dollars  and  ninety- 
nine  cents  ($134,224.99).  The  amount  raised  and  'ex- 
pended during  the  war  for  aid  to  soldiers'  families,  and 


422  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 

repaid  to  the  town  by  the  State,  was  twenty-one  thousand 
four  hundred  and  thirty-five  dollars  and  seven  cents 
($21,435.07). 

The  services  rendered  by  the  ladies  of  the  town  were 
acknowledged  to  be  great  and  valuable.*  The  amount  of 
money  raised  by  them  and  spent  for  the  comfort  of  the 
soldiers,  was  not  less  than  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The 
town  was  represented  in  the  military  hospitals  of  Wash- 
ington, by  both  ladies  and  gentlemen,  who  gave  their 
services  as  either  temporary  or  permanent  nurses,  and 
little  rills  of  beautiful  unrecorded  charities  and  sweet 
sympathies  never  ceased  to  flow  into  the  camps  and  hos- 
pitals as  long  as  they  were  needed.  Even  little  children 
voluntarily  contributed  their  mites,  and  gave  their  play 
hours  to  the  public  service. 

In  closing  the  record  of  the  war,  we  would  gladly  ap- 
pend a  roll  of  honor,  which  should  contain  the  name  of 
every  soldier  who  was  credited  to  our  town,  whether  a 
resident  or  not.  They  were  all  residents  of  our  common 
country,  and  dear  to  some  home  circle,  or  at  least  to  some 
human  heart,  and  many  names  of  our  own  townsmen 
are  lost  to  us  because  they  were  non-residents  at  the  time 
and  enlisted  elsewhere.  But  the  attempt  would  be  vain 
to  collect  and  arrange  such  a  list  for  this  work,  and  it 
would  be  impossible  to  do  anything  like  justice  in  speak- 
ing of  the  hardships  they  bore,  and  the  glorious  result  of 
their  toils  and  sacrifices.  Many  of  them  have  returned  to 
us  broken  down  in  health,  or  maimed  and  disabled  for 
life  ;  many  others  still  in  vigorous  manhood  are  holding 
positions  of  active  usefulness.  We  honor  them  all,  from 
the  highest  officer  to  the  humblest  private,  who  shoul- 
dered knapsack  and  gun  ;  the  noblest  man  was  none  too 
noble  for  the  cause  for  which  he  fought  and  won,  and 

.    *  See  Adjutant-general  Schouler's  Report. 


BROOKLINE  IN  THE  WAR   OF   THE   REBELLION.          423 

the  least  worthy  soldier  who  enlisted,  was  for  once  in  his 
life  engaged  in  a  glorious  cause. 

Of  those  who  served  in  the  Navy,  we  have  been  unable 
to  obtain  a  record. 

Of  those  who  fell  in  the  infantry  and  artillery  service, 
we  have  obtained  as  full  and  correct  a  list  as  we  could 
gather  from  Adjutant-general  Schouler's  reports,  and 
other  sources. 

Among  all  our  Brookline  soldiers  we  have  found  but 
one  deserter. 


424  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKL1NE. 


WHO    LOST    THEIR    LIVES   DURING    OR   IN   CONSEQUENCE  OF 
THE   REBELLION. 


ATKINSON,  DANIEL  "W.,  10th  Mass.  Battery,  killed  at  Hatch- 
er's Run,  Va.,  Oct.  27,  1864. 

ARCHER,  GEORGE  E.,  Co.  H,  33d  Mass.  .Reg't,  accidentally 
killed  July  6,  1863,  at  Camden,  N.  J. 

BARLOW,  HERBERT  S.,  Co.  A,  1st  Mass.  Reg't,  killed  at 
Budd's  Ferry,  Va.,  Jan.  31,  1862. 

BOGMAN,  NELSON,  Rhode  Island  Battery,  died  in  service. 

BIXBY,  OLIVER  C,  Co.  F,  58th  Mass.,  killed  July  30,  1864, 
at  Petersburg,  Va. 

BURRILL,  GEORGE  C.,  Lieut.,  59th  Reg't,  killed  May,  1864, 
in  the  Wilderness,  Va. 

BURRILL,  PASCHAL,  Co.  H,  2d  Mass.  Reg't,  died  of  wounds, 
May  12,  1863. 

BURKE,  JOSEPH,  Company  I,  59th  Reg't,  killed  May,  1864, 
at  Spottsylvania,  Va. 

CHANDLER,  CHARLES  L.,  Lieut.-col.,  57th  Reg't,  killed  at 
North  Anna  River,  Va.,  May  24,  1864.  Son  of  T.  P.  Chand- 
ler, Brookline. 

CLARK,  JOHN  "W.,  1st  Mass.  Battery,  died  October  4,  1862, 
at  Bakersville,  Md. 

CUSICK,  JOHN,  Co.  H.,  1st  Reg't  Heavy  Artillery,  died  soon 
after  his  discharge  at  the  close  of  the  war,  of  hardship  and  ex- 
posure. 

CLEARY,  THOMAS,  Co.  F,  56th  Mass.  Reg't,  died  at  Annapo- 
lis, Md.,  April  13, 1864. 

COLLINS,  GEORGE,  Co.  B,  2nd  Reg't  H.  A.,  died  March  26, 
1865,  at  Gtfldsborough,  North  Carolina. 


BROOKLINE   SOLDIERS.  425 

COLLINS,  ELBRIDGE  G.,  Co.  G,  2d  Reg't  H.  A.,  died  pris- 
oner at  Andersonville,  Sept.  1864. 

DWIGHT,  WILDER,  Lieut.-col.,  2d  Mass.  Reg't,  died  of 
wounds  received  at  Antietam,  Sept.  19,  1862.  Son  of  William 
Dwight  of  Brookline. 

The  intensely  interesting  "  Life  and  Letters  of  Wilder 
Dwight,"  in  our  Public  Library,  has  been  so  widely  read,  that 
further  remark  upon  his  character  would  seem  superfluous,  in 
a  volume  which  is  designed  like  this  for  only  local  circulation. 
But  there  is  a  generation  of  young  people  growing  up,  to  whom 
the  events  of  the  Rebellion  are  as  much  a  matter  of  past  his- 
tory as  the  War  of  the  Revolution.  To  such  we  can  only 
recommend  this  attractive  memorial,  if  they  would  know  by  one 
more  proof,  what  beauty  and  strength  of  character,  what  genial 
traits  and  deserved  popularity  in  life,  and  what  heroic  bravery 
in  battle  and  in  death,  characterized  this  young  martyr  upon 
the  field  of  Antietam. 

The  solemn  scene  of  his  funeral,  with  military  honors,  from 
St.  Paul's  Church,  Brookline,  is  engraven  upon  the  memories 
of  those  who  witnessed  it. 

DWIGHT,  HOWARD,  Capt.,  killed  by  guerrillas  after  he  had 
surrendered,  near  Bayou  Boeuf,  Louisiana,  May  4,  1863.  Son 
of  William  Dwight  of  Brookline. 

DILLON,  THOMAS,  Co.  B,  2d  Reg't,  killed  at  Antietam 
Sept.  17,  1862.  Son  of  John  Dillon  of  Brookline. 

DALE,  JAMES  A.,  Corp.,  Co.  H,  33d  Reg't,  died  of  wounds^ 
July  1,  1864. 

Foss,  JAMES  M.,  Serg't,  Co.  I,  59th  Reg't,  died  Nov.  5, 
1864,  at  New  York. 

FUNK,  JOSEPH  W.,  llth  Mass.  Reg't,  died  Oct.  16,  1864,  at 
Washington. 

GETCHELL,  FRANK,  Co.  A,  1st  Mass.  Reg't,  died  Feb.  3, 
1863,  at  Falmouth,  Va. 

GETCHELL,  Louis  G.,  Co.  A,  1st  Reg't,  killed  June  25, 
1862,  at  Fair  Oaks,  Va. 

GODKIN,  CHARLES  H.,  Co.  II,  2d  Mass.  Reg't   H.  A.,  died  a 
prisoner  at  Andersonville,  Oct.  1864. 
28 


426  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

GRISWOLD,   CHARLES   E.,  Col.,  56th  Reg't,  killed  May  6, 

1864,  in  the  Wilderness. 

HARRIS,  P.  NATHANIEL,  Sergt.,  Co.  D,  45th  Mass.  Reg't, 
died  in  North  Carolina,  June  1863. 

HATMON,  JOHN,  Co.  H,  56th  Mass.  Reg't,  killed  at  Peters- 
burg, July  30,  1864. 

KITTRIDGE,  MALCOLM  G.,  Co.  G,  2d  Reg't,  killed  May  3, 
1864,  at  Chancellorsville. 

KNIBBS,  FREDERIC,  Co.  G,  58th  Reg't,  died  of  wounds,  at 
Fredericksburg,  May  24,  1864. 

KENNEDY,  TIMOTHY,  Co.  C,  28th  Mass.  Reg't,  killed  De- 
cember 13,  1862,  at  Fredericksburg. 

LAMSON,  SAMUEL  G.,  son  of  Rev.  Dr.  Lamson  of  Brookline. 
Samuel  Giles  Lamson,  only  child  of  Rev.  Dr.  Lamson  of  Brook- 
line,  was  in  the  Paymaster's  service,  and  was  stationed  at  St. 
Louis.  On  the  3d  of  August,  1863,  he  embarked  on  board  the 
steamer  "  Ruth,"  on  his  way  to  Vicksburg  to  pay  off  our  sol- 
diers. 

On  the  way  down  the  river  the  boat  took  fire.  (It  was  said 
to  be  the  work  of  rebel  emissaries.)  The  boat  was  consumed 
and  thirty  lives  were  lost,  among  them  this  young  man.  His 
body  was  recovered,  and  after  two  weeks  was  received  by  his 
afflicted  parents.  He  was  buried  in  Harmony  Grove  Cemetery, 
Salem,  Mass.  Young  Lamson  was  well  educated,  highly  pa- 
triotic, and  every  way  a  promising  young  man. 

At  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  twenty-three  years  of  age. 

MERRILL,  OTIS  S.,  Co.  H,  44th  Reg't,  died  at  Newbern,  N. 
C.,  March  2,  1863. 

MCCALLEY,  JAMES,  Co.  H,  59th  Reg't,  died  May  29,  1864, 
at  Arlington,  Va. 

MALONEY,  EDWARD,  Co.  D,  56th  Reg't,  died  June  13, 1864, 
at  Readville,  Mass. 

MORIARTY,  PATRICK,  Co.  G,  56th  Reg't,  died  Oct.  14, 1864, 
at  Danville. 

MEADE,  JOHN,  16th  Mass.  Lt.  Battery,  drowned  Jan.  28, 

1865,  at  New  Brunswick,  Va. 


BROOKLINE   SOLDIERS.  427 

PHELPS,  JULIUS  A.,  Co.  A,  1st  Reg't,  killed  June  30,  1862, 
at  Glendale,  Va. 

ROLLINS,  CHARLES  E.,  Co.  C,  44th  Reg't,  killed  Nov.  2, 
1862,  at  Little  Creek,  N.  C. 

RUSSELL,  ALFRED  W.,  Co.  G,  58th  Reg't,  killed  July  12, 
1864,  at  Petersburg. 

REED,  S.  S.,  2d  Heavy  Artillery,  died  at  Andersonville,  Sept. 
1864. 

Ross,  HENRY  L.,  Co.  G,  58th  Reg't,  killed  May  6,  1864,  in 
the  Wilderness. 

STEARNS,  GEORGE  THEODORE,  Co.  B,  22d  Reg't,  wounded 
in  Wilderness,  May,  1864  ;  died  of  wounds,  in  Washington,  July 
6,  1864. 

STONE,  HENRY  V.  D.,  Lieut.,  son  of  Rev.  Dr.  Stone  of 
Brookline.  Killed  at  Gettysburg,  July  3,  1864. 

SHURTLEFF,  CARLTON  A.,  Medical  Cadet,  died  in  Brookline, 
after  return  from  service,  June  26,  1864.  Son  of  Dr.  S.  A. 
Shurtleff. 

TURNER,  JOSEPH,  Co.  A,  1st  Mass.  Reg't,  died  at  Fair 
Oaks,  June  21,  1862. 

TROWBRIDGE,  WILLIAM  H.,  dropped  dead  at  night  after 
Battle  of  Malvern  Hills,  July,  1862,  while  posted  on  picket 
duty. 

TIIAYER,  JOHN  GORIIAM,  1st  Mass.  Cavalry,  died  of  sickness 
incurred  during  service,  at  Sacramento,  Cal,,  Dec.  28,  1864. 

WARREN,  THOMAS  G.,  Co.  D,  22d  Reg't,  killed  June  18, 
1864,  at  Petersburg. 

WHALAN,  THOMAS,  Co.  F,  22d  Reg't,  killed  May  10,  1864, 
at  Laurel  Hill,  Va. 

WHITNEY,  CHARLES  H.,  Co.  A.,  1st  Reg't,  wounded  and  dis- 
abled, transferred  to  Veteran  Reserve  Corps,  died  in  Brook- 
line  shortly  after  his  return. 

WATERMAN,  AUGUSTUS,  Co.  A,  1st  Reg't,  taken  prisoner, 
May  6,  1864,  detained  nearly  a  year  at  Andersonville,  died  of 
effects  of  starvation  before  reaching  home,  after  he  was  dis- 
charged. 

WELLS,  HENRY  W.,  died  in  the  naval  service. 


428  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 

Thus  closes  the  record  of  our  dead.  If  any  name  has  failed 
to  be  obtained  and  recorded,  it  is  a  matter  of  regret. 

Let  no  one  say  "  this  one,"  or  "  that  one  was  a  non-resident." 
If  he  was,  and  our  town  hired  his  services,  he  died  that  some 
one,  whom  perchance  we  still  hold  dear,  might  be  saved  to  us, 
who  might  otherwise  have  fallen  in  the  trenches  at  Petersburg, 
or  perished  by  slow  starvation  at  Anderson ville. 

Allusion  was  made  in  the  early  part  of  our  war  record,  to 
Lieut.  Charles  L.  Chandler,  who  was  among  the  first  to  recruit 
a  company  of  volunteers  in  Brookline.  More  than  a  passing 
notice  is  due  to  this  brave  young  officer.  When  the  war  began, 
he  at  once  relinquished  his  business  (that  of  a  civil  engineer), 
and  devoted  himself  to  the  service  of  the  country.  It  soon 
became  apparent  that  he  could  command  himself,  and  that  he 
had  a  rare  aptitude  for  commanding  others. 

He  was  but  twenty-one  when  he  received  his  first  commis- 
sion, was  made  1st  Lieutenant  in  March,  1862,  and  served  with 
the  1st  Mass.  Regiment,  at  the  first  battle  of  Bull  Run,  and 
through  the  Peninsula  campaign. 

In  August  of  that  year  he  was  made  Captain  in  the  34th, 
and  in  March,  1864,  was  commissioned  Lieutenant-colonel  of  the 
57th  (Veterans).  Of  this  he  was  in  command  during  most  of  the 
terrible  battles  in  the  "  Wilderness,"  Colonel  Bartlett  having 
been  wounded  in  one  of  the  first  engagements. 

Brigadier-general  Ledlie  writes  of  him :  "  From  the  moment 
of  his  joining  his  regiment  at  Alexandria,  he  attracted  general 
attention  by  his  remarkable  qualities,  both  as  a  soldier  and  a 
gentleman,  and  no  officer  in  the  division  was  more  respected 
and  beloved." 

In  the  advance  and  terrible  repulse  of  the  First  Division  of 
the  Ninth  Army  Corps,  at  the  North  Anna  River,  on  the  night 
of  May  24,  1864,  this  gallant  young  officer  was  mortally 
wounded.  His  side  received  the  fatal  bullet,  but  his  arm  was 
also  shattered,  and  hung  motionless.  His  officers  were  assisting 
him  off  the  field  when  they  found  themselves  flanked  by  the 
rebels.  At  once  he  ordered  them  to  leave  him  and  rally  their 
men,  and  reluctantly  they  laid  him  down  to  die. 


BROOKLINE   SOLDIERS.  429 

He  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  but  Colonel  Harris,  of 
the  Twelfth  Mississippi  Regiment,  kindly  cared  for  him  in  his 
last  hours,  and  to  him,  a  gentleman  and  a  friend,  as  he  proved 
himself,  although  a  rebel,  the  dying  soldier  committed  his  money, 
his  watch,  diary,  and  a  photograph. 

He  had  been  three  years  in  the  service  of  the  country,  and 
had  won  the  highest  encomiums  for  his  ability,  fidelity,  and  rare 
and  genial  qualities.  "  Every  officer  and  man,"  wrote  General 
Bartlett,  "  that  I  have  been  to  see  in  the  hospital  here,  speak 
of  Colonel  Chandler's  bravery  and  devotion  with  filling  eyes.  I 
never  saw  men  who,  in  so  short  a  time  had  such  a  feeling  of 
admiration  for  any  man's  conduct.  His  loss  was  felt  throughout 
the  corps." 

The  kind  rebel  officer  saw  the  body  of  the  handsome  young 
colonel  properly  buried,  and  after  the  war  was  over,  took 
measures  to  let  his  family  know  of  the  mementoes  he  had  kept 
for  them,  and  delivered  them  to  his  brother,  who  made  a  jour- 
ney to  Virginia ;  but  the  battle-field  was  vainly  searched  for 
the  remains  of  the  beloved  one.  They  had  been  removed,  and 
are  now  resting  in  an  unknown  grave ;  but  the  love  of  friends 
and  kindred,  and  the  honor  of  his  country,  long  shall  keep  his 
memory  sacred. 

His  last  letter  home  expressed  firm  confidence  in  the  power 
and  love  of  the  Lord  respecting  him.  He  had  counted  the  cost, 
was  ready  for  the  sacrifice,  and  died  happy  in  the  noble  dis- 
charge of  his  duty. 


430  HISTORICAL   SKETCHES   OF   BROOKLINE. 


OUR  HEROES 

WHO     SLEEP     IN     UNKNOWN     GRAVES. 
MEMORIAL  DAY,  1872. 

BRING  garlands  for  each  patriot's  grave, 

Our  dear  and  honored  dead ! 
Above  the  brave  the  flag  shall  wave,  — 

The  wreath  its  fragrance  shed. 
They  bore  our  nation's  emblem  hence 

When  traitors  scorned  its  name ; 
Borne  homeward  from  its  brave  defense 

Wrapped  in  its  folds  they  came. 

Peace  to  their  memories !  But  for  those 

Who  went  but  came  no  more,  — 
Who  lie  where  facing  rebel  foes 

They  fell  mid  battle's  roar;  — 
Who  pined  in  prison  and  dying  wore 

Starvation's  martyr-crown,  — 
Who  sleep  in  fort  and  trench  on  shore, 

Or  lie  where  ships  went  down ;  — 

For  them  no  flag,  nor  wreath,  nor  cross, 

To-day  above  them  rest; 
But,  hallowed  by  the  price  it  cost, 

In  every  patriot's  breast, — 
Is  freedom's  triumph  which  they  won, 

By  the  brave  blood  they  shed, 
And  shrined  in  story  and  in  song 

Shall  be  our  nameless  dead. 

Thrice  hallowed  ever  be  the  land 

For  which  our  heroes  died, 
Nor  the  least  boon  of  freedom's  hand 

To  one  who  seeks,  denied; 
By  sea  and  sh  .re,  on  mountain  crest, 

Where'er  unknown  they  sleep, 
The  God  of  nations  guard  their  rest, 

And  green  their  memories  keep. 


ADDENDA. 


There  have  been  some  local  changes  in  streets  and  buildings 
since  the  proof  for  this  volume  was  corrected,  which  it  is  now  too 
late  to  notice.  An  incident  illustrative  of  the  difficulty  of  keep- 
ing pace  with  the  march  of  events  even  while  a  book  is  in  press,  is 
connected  with  the  clock  now  in  the  new  Town  Hall,  which,  at  the 
time  an  account  of  it  was  written  and  printed,  was  in  the  old  Town 
Hall,  and  seemed  to  be  a  fixture  there.  It  has  since  been  removed 
from  the  ancient  case  which  had  inclosed  it  for  seventy  years,  and 
has  been  fitted  in  its  new  location  by  Mr.  John  Koch,  with  an  appro- 
priate taste  which  makes  it  appear  as  if  a  part  of  the  original  design 
of  the  gallery  which  it  ornaments. 

Other  changes  are  going  on  in  the  town  which  are  not  noticed  in 
this  volume  because  not  yet  completed,  but  which  will  furnish  ample 
material  for  some  future  historian  of  Brookline. 


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